YEARS of hard work, graft and the odd setback have all been worth it for construction company and specialist education contractors Rigg Construction Southern Ltd in Melksham who have just landed their biggest deal to date.

When the company formed in 1989 under Phil Rigg it started out doing small residential and commercial projects but have now gone onto secure contracting projects at classroom and extension work at Bitham Brook School in Westbury, the 32-bed Blenheim House care home in Melksham and best of all, the contract to start work on the new Wiltshire Air Ambulance Headquarters in Semington.

Something like this may not have looked possible when the recession hit the business, based in Lancaster Park Industrial Estate, in 2008 but it has weathered the storm and managed to achieve steady growth, and a turnover of £8m in the last year.

"Our growth has been steady. The recession hit contractors hard but we have recovered of the last few years. It is definitely on the up," said Jon Price, commercial director.

"We were delighted to have secured a big contract like the WAA one. We were lucky enough to secure a competitive tender. We were chosen as we are a trusted, well respected business and it is nice that we are local too.

"What is exciting about the job is that we have worked with hundreds of clients, be it local authority education departments, local councils and housing associations, independent and church run schools and colleges, so every job is different.

"We have a dedicated team of site managers who liaised with the client’s site representative, who would report to our allocated contracts manager with the whole project being coordinated from head office by the support network, including quantity surveyors, buyer and estimator and our admin and accounts team.

"We employ our own ground working teams who specialise in live occupied sites and have a wealth of experience on school and residential projects. Work with many local architects and contracts administrators. It is going well."

The company works within a 60 mile radius and has more than 30 staff members, including office staff, site managers, ground workers, tradesman and sub contractors.

"We are proud that we are here for the long-term, made profits every year and provide value for money. We have made money every year but not a lot," said Mr Rigg.

"To start out with housing extensions to heading to a turnover of £12m next year is something I am pleased about. I think we have a bright future ahead."

Factfile:

Name: Rigg Construction Southern Ltd

Address: Lancaster House/Lancaster Pk Ind Est, Melksham, SN12 6TT

Phone number: 01225 705668

Formed: 1989