Just weeks after opening for business in Wales, Ireland’s Goodwins Timber Frame is reporting strong demand from a wide range of building sectors.
The company, which invested £4m in the purchase of an 80,000ft2 factory near Newport, is getting enquiries from across the country.
General manager John Goodacre said: “In addition to supplying quotes for the usual two and three storey housing projects, we have seen a surprisingly large number of requests for blocks of flats.”
The company has been asked to look at constructing an apartment block in London and similar projects in Cornwall, Yorkshire, Bristol and Newport.
To meet demand the company is now looking to recruit CAD design engineers as well as structural engineers and support staff.
Goodwins’ first projects in Wales included a small housing development in Swansea and a pair of individual detached houses in Ross-on-Wye. It also completed a 1,600ft2 single storey, flat roof school extension and a six bedroom house.
Disruption at the school had to be kept to a minimum and Goodwins erected the timber frame on site in just two days.
Stephen Tabernacle, a director at building contractor Tendean Ltd, used Goodwins for the Ross-on-Wye development. He said: “Because they supply large size frames, there was no need to assemble wall panels on site, something which can lead to inaccuracies. We also liked Goodwins’ ready-made floor cassettes as they helped save installation time.”
