Posts By: Diamond

The founder of two drainage businesses with multi-million pound turnovers has joined one of the industry’s newest firms, Jet Through Limited, to drive forward the company’s ambitious growth plans.

Greg Beech, who founded and grew UKDN Waterflow into a business achieving £50 million of annual sales before departing in 2014, has joined drainage and cleaning company Jet Through as a corporate development advisor and will be shaping its expansion.

This includes taking the firm’s existing £1 million turnover to around £3 million in the next 18 months with a workforce of ten specialist drainage engineers working across sectors such as retail, care, hotel and leisure, education and commercial property.

Jet Through is part of the Diamond Facilities Support Group of companies, which is also made up of facilities management firm Diamond Facilities Support, Nationwide Property Clean and fire and security maintenance firm Sanctuary – collectively the Group of companies has an annual turnover of £9.5 million.

Jet Through was launched by Adam Atkins and Helen Cooper, the co-managing directors of the Diamond Facilities Support Group of companies, in spring 2018 as part of their vision to have more than 90 per cent of all of the Group’s services delivered by an in-house workforce.

Beech, who also set up and managed a multi-million pound drainage utility business called Direct Drains between 1992 and 2003, said: “The consistent, fast-paced growth of Diamond Facilities Support meant this opportunity was just too good to turn down.

“There is more than £1 billion worth of business to be had in the UK drainage market, and delivering a consistent level of high service in-house will stand Jet Through in good stead.

“Jet Through already has access to a broad range of clients via Diamond Facilities Support’s existing client base, and through using my existing network of contacts and knowledge of growing businesses, I am looking forward to the challenge of helping to take Jet Through to the next level.”

Beech also recently spent two-and-a-half years at Preston-based Service Solutions Group as CEO, and is founder of Surface Medic.

Adam Atkins, joint managing director at the Diamond Facilities Support Group of companies, believes the appointment of Beech is a coup for Jet Through.

He added: “Greg is an experienced professional who knows the drainage industry inside out, so he will be a key asset for Jet Through and the wider group in the future.”

Helen Cooper, joint managing director at the Diamond Facilities Support Group of companies, commented: “Greg’s business accomplishments are also second to none, and he is the perfect candidate to guide Jet Through on its journey of growth, to help drive forward Diamond Facilities Support Group’s ultimate ambition of achieving £25 million turnover by 2025.”

Diamond Facilities Support is charging ahead with its expansion plans after striking a deal to service a national powered access company.

The firm is working with AFI-Uplift to maintain their 21 depots across the UK, ranging from Glasgow to Exeter.

The deal is worth seven figures over three-years, and will see Birmingham based Diamond Facilities Support delivering services such as reactive works, mechanical and electrical compliance, fire and security, drainage works and quoted works.

AFI-Uplift will also have access to their own web portal management system to manage the maintenance of each building, complete with access to a 24 hour helpdesk.

Diamond have continued their expansion through 2018 – and will see another year-on-year increase of over 10 per cent in turnover.

Adam Atkins, joint managing director of Diamond Facilities Support, said: “AFI-Uplift has fantastic geographical spread across the country, so this deal is a real coup for us in terms of raising awareness and developing our company further.

“It is especially pleasing to see us winning work by simply approaching them with what we can offer – it became apparent very quickly that they wanted a direct maintenance supplier, which, thanks to our own direct workforce plus our drainage and fire and security businesses, we are able to offer 90 per cent of all work with in-house labour – which is unique within our sector.

“Providing a variety of services in-house is just one part of our focus on service and convenience, as we are also in the process of investing in innovative ways that our clients can engage with us when they need FM assistance.”

Diamond Facilities Support has struck a seven figure, three-year deal to work for one of the UK’s leading pub, bar and restaurant operators.

The business has won a competitive mechanical and electrical maintenance (M&E) tender process to maintain 100 of Mitchells & Butlers’ Midlands-based pubs and restaurants, which include brands such as Miller & Carter, Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One.

The service will see Diamond Facilities Support, along with subsidiary companies Jet Through and Sanctuary Fire & Security, providing a combination of mechanical and electrical compliance, quoted and reactive works.

Adam Atkins, joint managing director at Diamond Facilities Support, said: “We’re extremely proud to add one of the UK’s best-known restaurant, pub and bar brands to strengthen our leisure portfolio.

“Our extensive experience of servicing some of the UK’s best known leisure brands combined with 90 per cent of our services being delivered in-house is helping to make us stand out from the crowd.”

“To come out on top of a competitive tender process for what is a long-term partnership makes this especially rewarding.

Helen Cooper, joint managing director at Diamond Facilities Support, added: “Establishing long-term working relationships with big organisations such as Mitchells & Butlers is key to all of our business’ future growth plans – providing a healthy stream of revenue while also securing word-of-mouth referrals.”

Diamond Facilities Support was formed in 2010, employs over 130 staff and has more than 30 clients with an annual turnover of £9.5 million.

Years of consistent growth and a forward-thinking approach to technology has resulted in Diamond Facilities Support receiving an award for its entrepreneurship.

Adam Atkins started the business with his business partner Helen Cooper in 2010 after spotting a gap in the market following Wilmott Dixon’s decision to shut down its facilities management arm.

Winning contracts with household names such as Pure Gym, Oxfam and Superdry over the years has seen the business grow to the point where it now has a £9 million annual turnover and a 125 strong national workforce.

Adam and Helen have now been recognised for their incredible work by the E2E Awards, who have named Diamond Facilities Support as the E2E Scaled Up Entrepreneur for Birmingham, an award which champions entrepreneurs that have put everything into the expansion and cost of doing business.

Aside from securing notable contracts, the last few years of success for the business can be put down to the Triplicity Maintenance Model, a web management system which enables customers to take care of all of their needs in one place.

Helen Cooper said: “We are incredibly proud to be recognised with an award for entrepreneurship during what is undoubtedly one of our most successful periods.

“We have grown to bring in £9 million annual turnover, generating £400,000 profit and servicing 40 clients from the private and public sector.

“We have done this all in a way which sees us continually push ourselves and take positive steps which we think will benefit us.

“We are eyeing further growth over the coming years and are optimistic that we can reach our £25 million turnover target within five years’ time.”

Adam and Helen are currently working on developing an Uber-style app that will revolutionise the way businesses engage with facilities management services and is set to be implemented later this year.

A Birmingham drainage business is expanding its footprint just four months after launching.

Jet Through Limited, which is headquartered at Birmingham Business Park, is investing heavily in four new drainage teams and vans to operate across the Midlands and south east England.

It comes as the firm aims to meet increasing demand for its specialist drainage and exterior cleaning services, which is currently averaging at 20 jobs per day from a range of commercial businesses across the hotel, restaurant, fitness and property sectors.

The business has also seen its turnover consistently double every month since the New Year.

Jet Through Limited was founded by Adam Atkins and Helen Cooper, eight years after the duo formed facilities management firm Diamond Facilities Support which now has a £9 million turnover with a 125-strong workforce.

Adam Atkins, joint managing director of Jet Through Limited, said: “The firm’s early performance has vindicated our decision to invest in the drainage sector.

“We were disappointed with the service we were seeing in this sector and felt there was a real gap for an organisation that not only cleared issues but also fixed them permanently.

“New enquiries for our services are pouring in from the London area, the most recent being with a series of 5-star hotels, which we have been able to react to quickly because of our in-house resources.

“Our efficient and effective service is fuelling the expansion.”

Helen Cooper, joint managing director of Jet Through Limited, added: “The focus for us is not to simply unblock a drain. Time is spent trying to get to the root of the problem, and once that is done we then look to advise on a sensible regime to prevent other issues from building up.

“Jet Through Limited has an added advantage of tapping in to Diamond Facilities Support’s current client base, and following the business’s encouraging start to the year, we are confident of seeing the business turning over six figures by its first birthday.

“We anticipate further recruitment over the coming months as awareness of the business spreads into other areas of the country.”

The owners of one of the UK’s fastest-growing facilities management firms have launched two new businesses.

Adam Atkins and Helen Cooper – who are joint managing directors of Diamond Facilities Support – have formed drainage business Jet Through Limited and cleaning firm Nationwide Property Clean Limited.

Jet Through Limited will focus solely on the commercial sector to provide specialist drainage services, as well as water jetting, remedial works and exterior cleaning.

Nationwide Property Clean Limited will provide a selection of commercial cleaning services to shops, offices, restaurants, schools and leisure facilities ranging from traditional cleaning through to deep-cleaning services and professional handyman regimes.

Both businesses are owned by Diamond Facilities Support, which has expanded rapidly since its formation in 2010 with a £9 million turnover and a 110-strong workforce servicing more than 40 clients.

The two businesses will also be overseen by Adam Atkins and Helen Cooper.

Adam said: “We’re seeing a rise in enquiries for cleaning services, and drainage is an area where we feel we can provide great service and actually solve issues instead of merely jetting every time there is a problem. Setting up these two businesses will help us to accelerate our growth and continue to provide great service.

“Both businesses will sit within Diamond Facilities Support as separate divisions but will also very much operate as separate entities. This means 90 per cent of all our services will now be delivered by in-house staff – enabling us to have more control over the scope and standard of the service, which is unique in our industry and a big part of our success.

“Within the space of a month, Nationwide Property Clean has won work to clean 25 sites at a national truck rental firm, and Jet Through is also trading which bodes well as we aim to have both new businesses with six figure turnovers by the end of their first year.”

Helen added: “The long-term plan is to have both businesses operating fully nationwide through direct labour and smart technology just as we have done with Diamond Facilities Support.”

Four members of Diamond Facilities Support’s staff have received recognition for their work at the firm’s annual party.

Joe Hemmingway was named as Best Field Newcomer and Chris Coward was given Best Engineer, while Martin Large was awarded Best Office Support Newcomer, along with Tara Denton who was named Best Office Support Team Member.

Alex Brankov, Ian Hickin, Laura Mortimer and Sharon Putson were also nominated for the aforementioned categories respectively.

Adam Atkins, joint managing director at Diamond Facilities Support, said: “I’d like to thank the whole team for their continued efforts in what has been another year of successful growth for the company.

“People are our most valuable asset, and our 120-strong workforce makes our company the success that it is.

“Well done to all of the award winners and everybody who was nominated – they are exemplary role models for others in the business to look up to, consistently performing to the highest standards and going the extra mile for both colleagues and customers.

“We will need this type of approach and attitude in abundance for the next 12 months as we look to expand the business via a variety of avenues – so watch this space.”