A fast-growing facilities management firm has strengthened its presence in Scotland with a flurry of new contract wins as it aims to banish the industry’s sub-contracting model.
Diamond Facilities Support has landed agreements to service the Scottish-based properties of nursery chain Busy Bees, waste management firm Biffa, and gym company Pure Gym– which between them make up an additional 90 Scottish sites – generating in excess of c.£1.5m worth of additional annual turnover from north of the border.
The firm’s ability to provide a consistent level of service from its own in-house and multi-skilled engineers for 90 per cent of its services is behind the success, say company bosses, as organisations – especially in Scotland – struggle to find consistent service levels for the maintenance of their sites from sub-contractors.
Diamond Facilities Support is part of parent company Coat Facilities Group Limited, which has an annual turnover of £16 million and a 200-strong workforce.
Coat Facilities Group was launched in January 2024 by the co-founders of Diamond Facilities Support – Adam Atkins and Helen Cooper – to enable the duo to purchase a 100 per cent shareholding in Diamond ten years on from starting the business together from scratch.
Coat Facilities Group also owns drainage business Jet Through, roofing firm Nationwide Roofing Repairs, cleaning business Nationwide Property Clean and Sanctuary Fire & Security.
Adam Atkins, Group Chief Executive at Coat Facilities Group Limited, said: “We know from talking to many Scottish businesses that they have traditionally had to rely on engineers from different third-party companies for emergency responses and scheduled maintenance, which only breeds unreliability and inconsistency, and our ability to tear up this rule book by offering a complete in-house offering is helping to drive our growth.
“This inconsistency of service tends to happen in more rural locations where there is a smaller talent pool of tradespeople, but through our commitment to career development and competitive pay, we are helping to overcome this.
“Our direct labour approach has also been bolstered by a recent £150,000 investment in our own flexible web portal management system that is compatible with any other computer aided Facilities Management system, enabling our engineers to provide real-time updates to clients to enhance our customer reviews even further.
“Landing contracts for regional arms of major brands such as Busy Bees, Biffa, and Pure Gym complement others we work for in Scotland such as Nationwide Platforms, Gusto, Cote, Menzies, We Are With You, We Buy Any Car, Buzz Bingo, Randstad, DPD and Air Hop.
“This growth vindicates our decision to focus on offering a direct labour approach – and working with big name brands provides a solid launchpad for us to grow even further in the future and improve.”