Complete construction partner Stepnell has secured eight new project wins across the UK. The family-owned firm has recently secured projects across all its regions, including three in the South of England.
These developments include Canford School’s £3.9 million scheme in Wimborne, Dorset, which consists of a new 56-bed boys boarding house. Despite the start date on this programme being the first day of UK lockdown, the Stepnell team has managed to maintain its build schedule and continue working safely on site – something that the team believes is central to its recent success.
Stepnell has also secured the full Carter Community School £3.5 million contract in Hamworthy, Poole, for United Learning.
Tom Wakeford, joint managing director at Stepnell, said: “We’re incredibly happy that our health and safety measures have proved effective throughout lockdown and allowed us to continue delivering high-quality schemes despite the difficult circumstances the whole industry, and country, is facing.”
Stepnell’s southern office has also managed to secure Heathlands Dementia Care Home in Bracknell – a £9.2 million two-stage scheme that will deliver the design and build of a 66-bed care unit.
Tom said: “All of our regional teams have been working incredibly hard to secure new opportunities and make sure that we emerge from this pandemic in the best possible position. It’s been a difficult period for the construction industry, but we’re positive that Stepnell will come out the other end with a strong team and a strong portfolio to match.”
Stepnell has also secured two new projects in the Midlands region – one of which is the next phase of construction for a current client.
The East Midlands region has also had a successful run of projects, including Waterside, a £2.58 million Grade A, three-storey office building for Leicester City Council’s waterside regeneration project and Pioneer Park, where Stepnell will deliver a £5 million office and industrial workspace across three floors to serve the city’s thriving business community.
Stepnell’s East Midlands office has also secured its latest win with Henry Davidson Developments, marking its fourth scheme for the client. The £2.3 million mixed-use development will comprise three retail units, a two-storey nursery, a drive through Costa Coffee and foundations and external landscaping for a McDonalds restaurant.
This site in Nottingham is opposite Stepnell’s current project with Aldi. The 1315 sqm retail unit – which is valued at £2.2 million and includes 114 customer car parking spaces – will be completed this month.
The construction partner employed a variety of health and safety measures during the lockdown period to ensure that sites could continue to operate safely without disruption. These measures included staggered eating times in the canteen, asking staff and subcontractors to travel and work independently, implementing social distancing using the two-metre rule and increasing the regularity of cleaning on site.
Not only have these measures enabled Stepnell to continue work on live sites, but they have allowed the team to complete the Little Health Care Home & Reablement Centre in South Gloucestershire. This £8.5 million project for Brunelcare, which was handed over in April, includes a new 64-bed care home and a 24-bed rehabilitation centre that houses dining areas, communal lounges, a hair and beauty salon, function room and shop, plus fitness and gym facilities.
Tom said: “Our teams have extensive experience working with care specialists, so we’re glad that we could get this project over the line for Brunelcare and add it to our wider portfolio of projects in the sector.”
Other recent completions in the southern region include the design and construction of 36 new houses for Slough Urban Renewal, Southview Park – a £3.4 million housing development in Trowbridge managed by Wiltshire County Council, Swanage Hospital in Dorset, and the redevelopment of Shore Road which acts as a gateway to people visiting Poole beaches.
Stepnell’s East Midlands office has also been working on two new student accommodation schemes for Student Zone in Leicester – New Walk, which was completed at the end of June and Upperton Road, which will be completed this month.
Neil Thakkar, director and owner of Student Zone, said: “We have now worked with Stepnell on six of our schemes and we’re incredibly happy with how the team have handled them. We trust them to deliver our projects to an exceptional standard and we look forward to working with them again in the future.”
Stepnell has also achieved a place on the recently launched Procure Partnerships (National) Framework as the preferred partner for projects that are valued between £1 million to £4 million across the East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, South East and South West regional lots.
