Construction consultancy goes back to nature with visitor-centre development

The firm, which has an office in Leeds, worked as a cost consultant on the new £5m Brockholes Visitor Centre – a collection of buildings set on a floating pontoon.

The development, built in Preston for the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, includes a café, conference centre and education facilities as well as an exhibition space and shops.

Alan Tovey, partner at Jackson Coles, said: “The centre opens for Easter. It’s a great one to be involved in.”

Jackson Coles, which has three offices across the UK, provides project management, cost consultancy and building surveying services to projects across all sectors, from industrial and commercial to arts culture and leisure.

Since the recession, the company has diversified into new areas, including project recovery. One of the projects it has helped to recover is Colchester’s £25m visual arts facility, which is due to open in September – two-and-a-half years behind schedule and millions of pounds over budget because of a series of construction and legal problems which led to the halting of works on site in early 2008.

Mr Tovey said: “Project recovery can seem as though it’s critical of the existing team and client, but sometimes, when you are working closely on projects, you can’t see the wood for the trees. It’s good for someone else to come in and see things from an independent perspective.”

Jackson Coles, which was launched in 1981 and employs six staff in Leeds, has learned lessons from previous recessions, which it said has helped it survive the current economic storm. The firm, which has a £5m turnover, only employs senior staff.

Mr Tovey said: “We looked at what our clients wanted and they wanted to be dealing on a day-to-day basis with a senior qualified member of staff who they can get an answer from straight away.

“It helps to develop relationships between clients and members of staff. That is something that helped us through this period.”

Looking to the future, Mr Tovey said: “In the current climate we are finding there are green shoots of recovery in London and we hope that will pass through to other areas.”