We've helped dozens of businesses across Wales develop, grow and find new markets.
Our blog series is focusing on many of those companies – and here we take a look at Mochdre-based Brenig Construction, a firm led by Howard Vaughan and Mark Parry.
Brenig has been delivering high-profile, award-winning civil engineering and building projects throughout North Wales and the UK since 2012.
Mark Parry made a career for himself as a project manager at a top major national construction company before forming Brenig Construction.
Here, Mark Parry and Howard Vaughan tell the Brenig Construction story and offer valuable advice to other business leaders intent on expansion.
Tell us about Brenig.
In 2012 we won our first contract, which was with Cartrefi Conwy and was worth £11,000. It was a sign of things to come for us.
In 2013 we achieved sales of £600,000 and won our first £1m contract, working on the new Ysgol Gogarth, a special school in Llandudno. By 2014 sales were £2.6m and in 2015, £5m – continuing our steady growth.
Since then the company has gone from strength to strength, and in the past 12 months, we've secured an order book of around £40m, been awarded a 10-year contract with Wales & West and signed a joint venture with Cartrefi Conwy worth £10m.
For the year which ended in October 2019, sales were more than £15m. That's something we're incredibly proud of.
What are your proudest moments in business so far?
Undertaking a transformational project at a local children's hospice was something we took immense pride in. We know that we're in a privileged position, leading a company like ours. It means we can support and help charities – in this case we were able to work with our supply chain to carry out the project £50,000 below the hospice's budget.
If you were starting again, what would you do differently?
A million and one things to be honest. Probably the one thing that we would do differently is to learn to say no! That's no to certain clients and no to certain projects.
It's tough when starting a business to say no as you need the work and you need the turnover to bring in money and pay the bills. But saying yes to everything in business can cause some serious issues and can have a detrimental effect on the business, particularly in the first three to five years.
How has support from Business Wales AGP helped your business?
The expertise provided by Business Wales AGP has been massive and has been vital as we've grown as a company.
We've had consultancy support through the Business Wales AGP via nine work packages covering strategy, management organisation and development, as well as effective management controls.
We now employ more than 60 people.
What advice and guidance would you give other businesses starting out?
● Be hardworking, ambitious, reliable and driven.
● Always be the very best in your field.
● Irrespective of size, give every job equal levels of dedication and the highest standards.
● Be your customer's first choice all the time.
● Communicate well with customers, suppliers and employees.
Learn more about Brenig.
You can find further information on Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme (AGP)