Lancaster-based chartered surveyor and sustainability consultant Murton & Co has doubled its annual turnover after securing a new nationwide contract.
The firm, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, now plans to recruit additional staff and use the win as a springboard to even further expansion in the future.
Murton & Co has been recruited by property managers Assura to assess the energy performance and propose measures that would enable it to achieve its target of an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band B rating across around 590 buildings, around 280 of which don't have existing cerfificates, by 2026.
The buildings, mainly GP surgeries, are located across the United Kingdom, as far apart as Dundee in Scotland to Devon and Cornwall in England’s South West.
Jonny Murton, managing director, said: "It has been a big step, which has taken us to the next level. The challenge was for us to do 50 surveys a month for six months during a pandemic and with Christmas and New Year in the middle and to ensure consistency with the assessments - it was a tall order.
"Introducing LED lighting is the main improvement measure needed on a lot of Assura’s buildings to get them to band B. Other measures include changing old boilers to efficient, modern versions; installing double glazing and replacing old air conditioning systems."
He added: "It has been exciting and a massive confidence boost to have won such a huge contract and to have dealt with the challenges it presented.
"It has come at just the right time as we are planning for the next ten years of the company. We have shown that we can handle a portfolio of around 590 properties and rise to the occasion and deliver on this sort of scale."
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