A SPECIALIST maintenance company is marking its tenth year in business by investing £600,000 to triple the size of its premises.

Stone Technical Services has recently seen annual turnover soar to £2.5m from £1.5m a year earlier thanks to a number of major contracts, including maintenance of St Paul’s Cathedral and lighting services at Selfridge’s, in Oxford Street, London.

Now, the high-level maintenance company is building on its year of growth by moving to new premises in Darlington.

The move will create at least three jobs to add to its existing workforce of 18.

Brothers Dave and Grahame Stone, who established the company in 1998, have invested more than £600,000 to relocate from Nestfield Industrial Estate, in Darlington, to Kellaw Road. off Allington Way, Lingfield.

The new offices will give the technical team more space to show prospective clients in a variety of industries various procedures, such as fall arrest systems, lightning protection work and masonry repairs.

The move follows the opening of Stone’s second office earlier this year, in Middlesex, which was a response to the growing amount of work in the South and South-East.

Dave Stone said the new Darlington premises will equip the business well for future growth.

“The last year has seen the business undergo a major period of growth and we felt that the time was now right, especially as it is our tenth anniversary, to move to bigger premises,” he said.

“The new facilities mean that we can increase the amount of work that we carry out, provide excellent on-site training facilities for our staff and also demonstrate our specialist services to potential clients.

“Our expertise in our specific fields is helping us to make our mark nationally which, in turn, is contributing to the growth in Darlington.”

Aside from the contracts for St Paul’s Cathedral and Selfridge’s, Stone has recently completed lighting projection work at the Welsh Institute of Sport, in Cardiff, masonry work on the Discovery Museum and the Laing Art Gallery, in Newcastle, and inspection works at BASF Seal Sands, on Teesside.

Stone’s other major clients include English Heritage, the National Trust, Cummins, in Darlington, and councils across the UK.