Investment Leads to £1M Wins, Record Turnover and New Jobs

BOLDON-based temperature control specialist HLA Services Ltd has posted the best financial results in its 13-year history after investing £50,000 in new technology and scooping over £1m-worth of contracts from outside the region, prompting it to consider setting up a Yorkshire base.

In addition to hitting the £11m turnover mark for the first time, the company has created 30 jobs over the last 18 months to take staff numbers to 120, and recruited on a further three apprentices this year, bringing its total number to seven.

HLA Services was set up in 2003 and has expanded to offer a full suite of commercial property services including heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing and water hygiene. It also provides a bespoke service for refrigeration and catering equipment through its Coolrite division, which was acquired in 2009. The firm operates from bases in Boldon, Middlesbrough and Seaham, and its client base includes Nissan, Caterpillar UK, Akzo Nobel, Aldi and Greggs, as well as Sunderland and Newcastle universities.

HLA Services projects director Paul Smith said: “The past 12 months has seen a steady increase in the amount of projects we have won here in the region. Added to that we have won a raft of significant contracts across the UK, thanks to local clients who have bases outside the North East and prefer to work with us rather than use a supplier from that area.

“We have also invested £50,000 in training and new technology which includes a new service management portal for clients. This gives them real time information on everything from contracts to individual job progress, and all the feedback shows that it simplifies their facilities management and removes many of the headaches previously associated with it.

“The new portal also delivers extra benefits in the shape of efficiencies across our own business, by managing the work cycle from call logging and job scheduling through to invoicing.”

The company’s latest contract wins from outside the North East have seen staff working on Thorpe Park Business Park in Leeds, at Virgin Money in Sheffield, and at car parts maker Unipres in Birmingham.

“A mobile workforce connected by the latest IT and technology tools allows us to work anywhere in the UK, and by expanding our portfolio into a full service facilities management offering our clients have the reassurance that one phone call, to one company, will sort out all their problems,” added Paul.

“All of those factors have led to a very busy order book and based on our recent contract wins across the UK we are looking at the viability of adding to our North East bases by setting up an operation in Yorkshire. The future is looking very bright.”