Ballymena construction firm achieves 'new milestones' securing a record £57million of new contracts in 2023

Ballymena construction firm, Clarke Facades has secured £57m of new contracts across the UK and Ireland in the 12 months since BGF invested in the business, the company announced today.

Founded in 1996 by Michael Clarke, the family-owned business specialises in innovative design-led façade projects, providing an end-to-end service from pre-construction to project handover to blue-chip construction industry clients including Morgan Sindall, John Sisk, Berkeley Group and Balfour Beatty.

With a strong reputation for producing a quality, sustainable product and cutting-edge designs for high-rise commercial and residential buildings, the company provides bespoke offsite architectural services, rain-screen cladding, external envelope, unitised façade, glazing and lightweight steel framing.

BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active and dynamic investor of equity capital in growth economy companies, backed Clarke with a £5m investment in November 2022. Since receiving the investment, the company has secured £57m of new contracts, a material increase on the previous year, which puts it on course to grow revenue to close to £50m in 2023, up from £30m in 2022.

Among the major projects Clarke has won this year is work on Unilever’s Eden Campus in Kingston Upon Thames, which will become the new headquarters of the British-Dutch multinational. The project involves four key buildings which incorporate 363,000 sq ft of offices, a high-rise residential building and a flexible building providing parking for 354 cars (30% electric charging facility) and 450 cycle spaces. The aspiration of the scheme is to be carbon net zero once in operation. Clarke is providing full end-to-end design, off site fabrication, and installation services on the project.

Eugene Clarke, CEO at Clarke Facades, said: “We are pleased that the business has gone from strength to strength over the past year and we are thankful for both the investment support and expertise which BGF has provided.

“This year we have been able to further develop our strong portfolio of projects for Tier 1 clients, delivering large-scale construction projects right across the UK and Ireland. Clarke now employs over 130 people and in the past year have seen our team achieve new milestones, such as winning one of our largest contracts to date as part of the team delivering Unilever’s new London HQ.”

Chris Nixon, Investor at BGF, said: “We are really pleased to see Clarke further accelerating what was already an impressive growth trajectory following BGF’s investment in the company.

“Eugene and the team at Clarke Facades continue to invest in their people and to enhance their offering, which has helped them to secure new clients and move into new segments of the market with fantastic clients. We look forward to supporting the business and helping it to build momentum into the future.

“BGF is keen to hear from ambitious businesses in Northern Ireland who like Clarke have aspirations to grow and expand into new markets and require funding support to achieve their goals.”