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CA Group Ltd, one of the UK’s leading manufacturing and construction companies, is preparing for its next era of growth with further investment in people, processes, product development and plans for a multi-million-pound extension to its County Durham headquarters. Peter Barron reports

CA Group is a name that may be unknown to those outside its industry, but to its clients and industry peers it is a brand that is synonymous with quality, and is a company with a desirable reputation for its unrivalled end-to-end service.

On-site at its 11-acre County Durham headquarters with state-of-the-art production facilities, it’s difficult to imagine that this company was once a micro business with ten employees operating from a small workshop. Now a bold name in the construction industry, with a loyal workforce of over 200 staff, CA Group has become a showcase North-East success story.

Since its inception 35 years ago, the group has gone from strength to strength expanding its capabilities and services to include designing, manufacturing, supplying, installation and maintenance of premium quality roofing and façade solutions for the industrial, commercial and public sector markets.

Now in 2018, the ground is being prepared for the latest chapter in CA Group’s success story, with plans approved for a new build adjacent to its existing facilities, which will enable the company to further increase capacity, improve efficiencies and extend its offering.

Responding to industry demand with practical and innovative solutions is one of the company’s greatest strengths. It owes much of its success to the forward-thinking approach of its people, which brought about its first turning point in the early eighties.

CA Group, formed in 1983, takes its brand from the surnames of its founders – Neville Colegrove, Henry Agnew, Richard Crane and Brian Atkinson – and was formerly a roofing and cladding contracting company with a small fabrication arm. With a background in the cladding industry, they set themselves up in a small, single-storey building, and used their skills and experience to install other people’s products.

A milestone came in the nineties when new construction (design and management) regulations were introduced to manage the health, safety and welfare of construction projects. CA Group responded by becoming the first cladding company in the country to use safety nets to minimise the risks for those working at heights.

It was the beginning of a significant shift in the group’s structure. The company went from being a roofing contractor with a small fabrication arm to splitting its operation 50-50 between installing other company’s products and manufacturing its own. The move swiftly led to significant growth and, in 1997, CA Group launched its own Twin-Therm® cladding built-up roof and wall cladding system with a unique guarantee covering durability, structural capability, thermal performance and non-fragility. It became a huge success, underlining the company’s commitment to quality and safety.

The company quickly became established as a market-leading one-stop shop, providing a full service, including fixings, sealants, metal sheets, insulation, rooflights, and gutters. With all the elements coming from one source, it meant CA Group could provide greater clarity and confidence for developers.

Crucially, CA Group didn’t stand still. The Twin-Therm® cladding system stood the test of time by evolving alongside building regulations, increasing the level of insulation to meet compliance, improving air-tightness, and developing the design parameters of industrial buildings. The guarantee also became more robust, twelve years was the norm in 1997, but it is now up to 40 years.

Other innovations include the patented MatriX spacer system, CasKade® premier gutters, and Prime Rainscreen Range and Twin-Therm® firewall. The CA Group has also introduced some UK firsts, including a ground-breaking zero-energy cost business park at Armstrong Point, Wigan and the company has recently become the first UK construction company to gain Secured By Design (SBD) certification for some variants of its roofing and cladding products.

According to the group’s Development Director, Stuart Brown, what makes CA Group stand out from the rest is that it works with developers and end-users so that products are tailor-made for their specific needs.

“We have a market-led approach that involves working with our customers at a high level to establish emerging trends and specific requirements. We invest in product development to create high quality and technically advanced solutions that are carefully designed to meet their aspirations. On top of that we provide a robust and comprehensive service and offer ‘rounded’ expertise.

"Our internal teams are structured to aid engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and project managers and we ensure we have wide-ranging technical input and good management at every stage. The result is that our combined industry skills, production capabilities and experience mean that we are well-placed to respond to significant construction challenges and we can take on projects that other companies may struggle to deliver.

"Projects that have very exact and high specification requirements are where we excel — and this is mostly down to the approach and ability of our team. Our people are what makes the Group successful. They are fundamental to our continued growth and we recognise that,” explains Mr Brown.

CA Group is a company that believes passionately in making its 220-plus employees feel part of the success story, emphasising succession planning, ensuring there are clear career opportunities, and nurturing new talent.

Demonstrating its commitment to its staff, the company took the unusual step of becoming an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT) — a scheme whereby 100 percent of the shares are held in a trust on behalf of all of the employees) — a welcome change that has helped to create a committed workforce and a strong sense of identity. Furthermore, CA Group has achieved a high retention rate throughout the company.

“The fact that CA Group is an Employee Benefit Trust with every member of staff being a 'beneficial owner’ of the business is a key factor in our high staff retention rate. It gives employees a meaningful stake in the company and creates a stronger team dynamic,” comments Mr Brown.

It is a philosophy that goes back to two of the founders of the company when Henry Agnew and Neville Colegrove created a plan to move the company into its Employee Benefit Trust status. Both remain supportive and committed to the business, acting as trustees of the Trust company, helping to make sure the business meets the terms of its mission statement.

Technical excellence, combined with an enlightened approach to people management, has proven to be a successful formula; the company has been named Large Manufacturer of the Year two years running in the Made In The North East Awards.

“There are great opportunities here, we aim to spot and nurture talent and have a good employee development programme in place in support of that.

"As we grow there will be some exciting career openings on the horizon, which will include new posts across all disciplines, including engineers, draughtsmen and quantity surveyors. We offer opportunities for people at all stages of their career — whether they are fresh out of college or an established professional.

“And when we get a good company and employee fit we tend to find people stay for a long time, which is good. It demonstrates what a good employer the company is and that people enjoy working here, which is important to us. We strive to ensure our employees look forward to coming to work.”

The group takes on apprentices and has a Foundation Programme for employees who are new to the industry, providing them with an overview of the business and helping them to identify where they fit best. There is also a Management Training Programme.

"It's an exciting time for the company, with plans in place for a new purpose-built 14,500 square metre facility, which will bring the various disciplines into one building to improve efficiencies and processes, and generate an even closer team spirit," says Mr Brown.

The proposals have been approved and are now at the tender stage, underlining CA Group’s long-term commitment to Evenwood.

“Although it’s not the most economical solution to expand in our current vicinity, it’s our desire for us to remain at Evenwood and respond to the needs of our local workforce,” says Mr Brown.

CA Group operates nationwide to fulfil a wide range of contracts that vary from small North-East projects to significant industry-leading developments in the South. The company works with some of the largest companies in the UK construction industry and boasts a unique building portfolio that includes new, renovation and refurbishment projects for brands such as Amazon, DPD, Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury and XPO. Recent projects include work on the Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre in Northamptonshire; the Amazon Distribution Centre in Leicestershire; and Downtown Manchester, a multi-storey residential build.

As well as its national work the group is very active in its local community with support activities organised through a Social Values Committee. Charities and community clubs that have recently benefitted include; The Rainbow Trust, the Great North Air Ambulance, Bishop Auckland Rugby Club, and Willington Cricket Club to name a few. Additionally, the company assists with career development via the Business Ambassadors Programme and is a proud supporter of the Future Business Magnates competition in schools.

Locally committed and nationally respected, CA Group continues to build on the firm foundations of its success, and with transformative development plans afoot, the future looks bright for this North-East company.