Shrewsbury lift company on the up
A Shrewsbury lift company is staving off the challenges of the recession by growing sales and is hoping that a move to new larger premises will help the business break the £1 million barrier for the first time in its history.
Stephen Nankivell, who set up Belvidere lifts in 2003 has developed a personal approach to doing business and is beating of competition from larger rivals to land contracts with Mitie, The Welsh Assembly government, Telford Plaza, The International Centre, Ryman Stores and other local authorities across the Midlands, Wales and the UK.
Growth has continued at such a pace that the family run business has needed to relocate to much larger purpose designed unit at The Courtyard, Yeomanry Road on Battlefield Enterprise Park to base its office and stores function in. The new premises boasts large office space, a storage warehouse, conference , meeting and training room facilities for its growing workforce.
“This is an important step for our company and gives us a solid platform from which to enter the next stage of our development” said Steve who previously worked with a large national provider.
“It’s always a difficult decision to make moving to larger premises especially during a recession when funds are tight but we now have a very professional office, stores and workshop and enough space to accommodate further growth and take on more people.” The company plan to continue growth by 25% over the next two years.
Specialising in maintenance, installation, modernisation, repairs and breakdowns on all types of lifts and escalators, Belvidere has gone from Steve working on his own to now employing eight people and turning over in excess of £850,000 this financial year.
Its attention to detail and speed of service has seen Belvidere expand its client base and along with the Disability and Equality Act, the company has successfully been able to diversify into the installation of Platform and Home Lifts.
Belvidere are fully accredited to globally recognised standards in Health and Safety and have recently been awarded BS EN ISO9001 2008 accreditation for Quality and Environmental Management Systems “the team have worked extremely hard to achieve this and along with the Lift Regulations and as members of LEIA the Trade Body Association this gives our clients the added confidence and reassurance when placing large contracts with ourselves.” says Steve
While the majority of the work force is from within the family, more than 15 engineers can be out in the field at any one time dealing with installations, urgent breakdowns, servicing and completing major refurbishment projects.
“The main reason i started the firm was because the bigger companies i worked for had lost their customer service ethos- in short, i knew there was an opportunity for another company to come into the market and do things very differently, we strive for total customer satisfaction and are very much committed to quality,” said Steve.
This is exactly what we’ve tried to do and in the nine years we’ve been operating it is an approach that has been welcomed by clients both large and small. The personal touch has gone out of business these days and we are trying to put it back.
