Bucking the credit crunch with new building at The Heath

Bucking the credit crunch with new building at The Heath

With building firms around the country shelving projects in the face of the credit crunch, one of the UK's most successful business parks is bucking the trend by starting a multi-million development scheme just days after receiving detailed planning permission.

The impressive new Progressive House at The HeathIn 2008, SOG Ltd — owner and operator of The Heath in Runcorn, Cheshire — unveiled exciting plans to add 180,000 square feet of offices and laboratories to the existing site which will increase the workforce at the award-winning business and science complex from 2,000 to over 3,000 workers in the next five years.

Work began immediately following Halton Borough Council planners granting detailed permission for phase one of the project — involving construction of two identical office blocks each of 9,500 square feet. Work on the first of the two-storey, state-of-the art, buildings officially began on Friday, November 20, when Halton Borough Council Leader Tony McDermott was invited to turn over the first sod of soil on the site. The first building will be officially opened by former Government Minister Steven Norris of Friday 10 July.

Fittingly, the company moving in to the first of the new buildings will be Progressive Solutions, a tenant at The Heath since 2000. The company, which develops business management software for merchants and wholesalers in the construction sector, has continued to expand since its inception when it occupied two rooms at The Heath.

Now employing 33 local people and with plans to recruit more new staff, the company is literally bursting out of the 4,000 square feet space it occupies in the existing building.

SOG Managing Director, Dr Peter Cook, said: "Since we showcased our expansion plans back in April last year the economic downturn has sent shockwaves through the business world. However, I am delighted to report that we have been able to buck the credit crunch trend by moving ahead with our new development proposals to maintain the momentum of The Heath's incredible success story."

 

© 2009, kindly reproduced courtesy of Halton Today.

Testimonials

  • "It was obvious the company was being held back by the limitations of the old system."

    Operations Director, CF Anderson

  • "Inventory accuracy is higher because everyone is more focused and our staff can see the benefit of getting it right."

    Ian Murchie, Operations Director, Howie Forest Products

  • "With bisTrack we now have real-time information on our profitability, which allows us to continually optimise and make decisions on our business plan."

    Stuart Hall, General Manager, Lawcris Panel Products

  • "I can export information into Excel by right-clicking and manipulate it to my heart's content."

  • "I'm happy bisTrack will grow with us. If we find we need something which isn't already incorporated, I'm confident Progressive will work with us to fill the gap."

    Operations Director, CF Anderson

  • "We chose bisTrack because we needed to move on to the next generation of software."

    Stephen Fairbairn, MD, Henry Alty

  • "The reporting capabilities of bisTrack really help the sales department answer day to day enquiries. It gives them instant access to information about purchasing volumes and when timber is due to come in."

    Wayne Abrams, Project Leader, Arbor Forest Products

  • "Our computer system impacts on every aspect of the business. Buying, selling, importing, transport planning, as well as accounts. If you install the wrong software, without the right level of performance or functionality, it will cause significant problems throughout your business."

  • “Hargeaves are ideally placed to take advantage of the offer – whilst we plan to continue using e-Xact to update our product file we also want much better control over special product sales and purchases."

    Gordon Rothwell, James Hargreaves MD

  • "It was obvious the company was being held back by the limitations of the old system."

    Operations Director, CF Anderson

  • "The time was right for a change of software at Alsford's and we selected bisTrack from a shortlist of three. The key criteria was 'business fit'. We wanted a Microsoft Windows, intuitive solution which would best serve our claim to be 'The Timber Experts' in all our 20 branches."

    Neil Fuller, MD, Alsford Timber

  • "The great thing is we can always export information to Excel and produce any report we need — such as an aged debt report by sales rep, or our bespoke ‘exposure’ report, which helps us assess potential credit risk and protect ourselves."

    Damien Cosgrove, Credit Control Manager, Noyeks Newmans

  • "I'm happy bisTrack will grow with us. If we find we need something which isn't already incorporated, I'm confident Progressive will work with us to fill the gap."

    Operations Director, CF Anderson

  • "I can export information into Excel by right-clicking and manipulate it to my heart's content."

  • "It's a very nicely laid out system with easy to follow structural menus and taskpads which, even if I haven't used a particular function before, I find relatively simple to complete."

    Chris Pratt, Pratts Timber and Builders Merchants Ltd

  • "We looked at several systems, but most of them were using the same out-of-date technology as the system we were replacing!"

    Rodney Scoles, Director, T Brewer & Co

  • "There’s no doubt that bisTrack is a good tool. We’ve a fantastic record for growth and we’re getting a lot out of bisTrack now, particularly over the control of our business."

    Mike MacLellan, MD, GPH Builders Merchant

  • “Hargeaves are ideally placed to take advantage of the offer – whilst we plan to continue using e-Xact to update our product file we also want much better control over special product sales and purchases."

    Gordon Rothwell, James Hargreaves MD

  • "It was obvious the company was being held back by the limitations of the old system."

    Operations Director, CF Anderson

  • "I'm happy bisTrack will grow with us. If we find we need something which isn't already incorporated, I'm confident Progressive will work with us to fill the gap."

    Operations Director, CF Anderson

  • "Our relationshiip with PSI has been transformed this year. This is due almost entirely to having an Account Manager as a single point of contact, who knows our system and our business."

    Eric Jones, IT Manager, Alsford Timber

  • "Good customer service is easier to achieve with good IT systems to back up our staff. Progressive provides us with an efficient system for dealing with customers, and good management tools to enable us to concentrate our efforts in the right direction."

    David Dunmow, Group Finance Director, James Latham plc

  • "bisTrack was a big investment for us but it's the best change we've ever made. We've grown so much over the last four or five years, we simply couldn't have carried on using a manual system."

    Gerwyn Thomas, partner, TL Thomas (builders' merchant)

  • "We were drowning in paper and, as a business turning over £2.2 million, the time had come for us to invest in business management software."

    David Biddle, MD, Huntingdon Timber & Roofing

  • "We improved net margin by 3% within 6 weeks of going live on bisTrack."

    Andy Halpin, Payne Timber

bistrack Customer Portal | Progressive Solutions UK

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