Nobles Construction grows turnover to £20m, up 150% in three years

Liverpool-based Nobles Construction has grown its turnover to £20m - representing an increase of 150% in three years.

Director Peter Linford said: “It’s been managed growth; we’re not buying work."

Nobles, which has been in existence 14 years, claims to be the largest private construction company in Liverpool. It operates primarily in the public sector, and also tacles some leisure contracts.

“We knew the residential sector’s rapid rate of growth couldn’t be sustainable," said Linford, who joined the firm three years ago. "Rather, we anticipated that the government would stay firm in the health and education sectors and so today we have 12 live contracts and of these five are schools and two are new-build health centres."

Nobles is frustrated at the way officialdom works: the company strives to establish itself as a medium-sized contractor in Liverpool, its home base, yet time after time a rival player comes diving in from a regional office away in Manchester, picking up contracts in Liverpool where Nobles couldn’t even get on the tender list.

“It’s so frustrating not to get past first base,” said Linford. “Is the OJEU system fair? Well its aim is to open up business across the EU to companies based anywhere in that area. But we don’t want to work anywhere, we want to work in Liverpool.

“We see the big players, Rok for example, open up in Liverpool, saying that it’s the nation’s local builder, and getting work awarded. It’s not just Rok, everyone does it.

“We put in for schemes we can handle but don’t get onto the tender list even and it’s not for a lack of trying. The OJEU issue is that you can’t get a job without the right experience and you can’t get the experience without winning a job.”

Despite these adverse hurdles, Nobles has been pushing forwards. Its schools contracts range in value from £150,000 up to £4.8m.

Knowing that it was to host the Open, the Royal Birkdale golf club called Linford’s team in advance of that massive public exposure with a £1.5m contract that would give the golf course a suitable face-lift.

That in turn opened the door for a £1.5m project for the West Lancashire golf club which should boost its chances, in turn, of becoming another qualifier course.

Another key client, Liverpool Football Club, provides a stream of work in the £2m-£3m price range - Nobles steers well clear of any massive stadium project.

“We own our own property and we have no bank borrowings,” said Linford. “Yes we do have a facility for a rainy day but that’s not been used for the past 18 months. The workforce of 50 divides between the 25 in management and the 25 trades-people.

“We are the biggest privately-owned construction group in the Liverpool city centre. We don’t want to turn into a Balfour Beatty or a Laing O’Rourke but we have aspirations to take on more contracts worth up to £6m.”

The business has existed for 14 years and is run by four directors of whom Linford is one. He joined from Bluestone major projects having had 10 years’ experience as a regional director.

Linford has recently attracted his former commercial manager and contracts manager to make the same transition.