Building firm expands after help from Highlands and Islands Enterprise
GA Leask Builders have secured almost £500,000 of investment to expand its business through Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
The Whiteness-based construction firm bought a warehouse in Lerwick, it was announced yesterday.
A project to convert the premises into four units is now under way, one of which will be used for its own business.
While the building firm funded the acquisition of the building, HIE is covering the costs to adapt the building. GA Leask will then rent out or sell the spare units.
Director of the building firm, Bryden Leask said the funding and the project would make a “big difference” to the company’s future.
“The additional space also lets us grow as a business but at a gradual and controllable rate to meet current and future demand,” Mr Leask said.
This development is part of a £1.7m HIE project which has the potential to help 12 businesses in Shetland to expand into more suitable premises by supporting the growth ambitions of the prospective tenants and vacating properties that these businesses have outgrown.
Mr Leask said the company will see a “significant reduction” in operating costs and an increased efficiency due to being able to have the office, workshop, stores and the glass centre all under the same roof.
GA Leask’s growth was constrained by their workshop size, prompting them to explore new property options. The company employs 15 staff, including two new additions and an apprentice. This development will create five new jobs.
The units will feature full insulation, solar panels and electric vehicle charging points, contributing to the company’s net zero ambitions.
The development would be impossible for the company, Mr Leask said, if it were not for the help of HIE. Plus it would afford other businesses opportunities to improve too.
Mr Leask added: “That also opens opportunities for other businesses to grow into all the units we have all moved out of.”
HIE Shetland area manager Katrina Wiseman said it had become “increasingly difficult” for private sector businesses to develop premises.
There was a demand, she said, for opportunities to improve or move into new buildings to expand and create new jobs.
“By supporting this project HIE is enabling the private sector to develop property, helping to ease the commercial property shortage,” Ms Wiseman said.
She added that HIE was keen to hear from other businesses who wanted to explore ideas for expansion.
