Landmark contract to restore Victoria to glory

A Yorkshire construction firm has increased its turnover to £12m after winning a contract to work on Victoria Station in London, an icon of Edwardian grandeur.

Everlast, which is based in Pudsey, Leeds, won a 1m re-roofing, cladding and glazing contract at the station, whose red brick and Portland stone marks it out as an example of Edwardian Baroque.

The work, sub-contracted from May Gurney, will run to the middle of this year, and Michael Hunter, commercial director of Everlast, said they had used a Yorkshire supply chain for their part of the project.

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The firm has since won a series of other railway station contracts in some of Yorkshire's most picturesque locations.

Everlast, which has rail, development and scaffolding arms, picked up the Victoria contract after working on a station in

the Essex coastal town of Harwich.

Mr Hunter said: "Victoria is a stepping stone. We have been working with Network Rail for several years now, and this was the largest single contract. We have been able to demonstrate competence."

Everlast has since won work at Bramley station, Whitby and Filey as well as at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

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"Last year was a fantastic year for us. London Victoria was a landmark contract," Mr Hunter said.

The firm has also picked up work with Urban Splash, the developer behind the residential and commercial scheme in Park Hill, Sheffield.

When the development is complete, in June 2017, it will contain 974 apartments as well as office, retail and leisure units. Everlast's involvement has been to provide scaffolding and roofing, which has been worth about 500,000 so far but the final value of the work is unknown.

The firm has grown quickly since it was set up in the 1990s and just five years ago it turned over 3m. It describes itself as having a "one-stop approach", which involves delivering waterproof roof coverings and cladding aesthetics for construction and refurbishment projects as well as offering maintenance programmes.

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"Hard work is part of our success," said Mr Hunter. "And we have established a good business mix."

Mr Hunter, along with Jason Cross and Richard Barker, became shareholders as part of a management buyout in 2005, although Terry Deighton, the managing director, remains in charge.

Everlast, which has 40 staff, has also worked with builders Rok, Balfour Beatty, Bowmer and Kirkland and Interserve, which works in the aviation, education, defence, health, highways and industrial sectors.

It was through its education work that Everlast took part in the construction of Allerton Grange High School, as part of the Government's Building Schools for the Future programme.

Going green

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Everlast is an advocate of sustainable building, which has led to it developing a line in green roofing. Its flat roofs can support plants and shrubs as part of carbon off-setting schemes.

The roofs look similar to grass and have been taken on by several schools.

They have become popular because they help to keep the building cool in summer and can soak up rainfall.