Tolent celebrates strong commercial position

Gateshead-based Tolent has announced it achieved £175m turnover in 2019, up 30 per cent on the previous year, and its 2020 order book is now in excess of £190m, despite the challenges of COVID-19.

With 45 live sites across the country and more than 30 in the North East, the national contractor has continued to make progress on developments including an £11m civils project for propane storage in Teesside, the £26m Hadrian’s Tower in Newcastle and the £84m Milburngate site in Durham.

Tolent is set to deliver around 3000 new homes covering both the private and public sector across the North East and Yorkshire by 2023.

It’s £120m South Seaham Garden Village development will also start work next year creating 1500 new homes including extensive parkland, a new primary school, business hub, sports facilities, play areas and allotments all linked by a network of more than 5km of landscaped paths and cycleways.

Tolent CEO, Andy McLeod (pictured), said: “It’s truly down to the collaboration between our teams, our clients and our supply chain that we have ensured a sustainable future for our business, and can look forward to better times ahead.

“We’re very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to support our teams who needed to work from home or continued to work on site and grateful for the support shown to us from those colleagues who were put on furlough, playing their part to safeguard our business.

“We’re also proud that we were able to continue to pay our subcontractors, consultants and wider supply chain on time, recognising the value they bring to our business; and proud to be supported by some great clients who worked with us to help mitigate delays and grant extensions of time as we all got to grips with our new working practices.

“With a healthy order book of work, including some negotiated work in the region with a combined value of £185m, we’ll also be looking to recruit at the end of this year as we continue to build a strong and skilled workforce to help support and drive future growth and continue to deliver the high quality and excellence we’re known for.”