Sounds like your both busy boys!
I am still only a little fish! (coming up to my 1st year of S.E)
How did you guys go about getting in with new build builders and winning like 8 houses in one and 26 plots?
-if you dont mind me asking of course!
I got in with one of the busiest builders round my way that only take on the bigger type of jobs. They have different divisions, prestige work as they call it, specialist works which do schools, university's etc and a Civils department. I badgered them to let me tender on some of there smaller works which they eventually let me do. I won a job which was a high spec new build house and proved I/we had the capabilities to do it and it sort of went from there. last year I had a site of 19 flats and 3 houses, another site of 11 high spec houses, an extension on a school and two of the directors own houses which were high end new builds.
I'm not the only firm they use...They have another local firm which have been around for donkeys years and employ around 20 sparks. This firm normally gets the biggest stuff but I'm slowly trying to push them out the door lol.
Another builder I'm in with which the 14 new build houses are for I've known since I was an apprentice. The firm I done my apprenticeship on went bust and I got a phone call of him asking if I wanted to carry on with his work...He also lent me the dollar to set everything up.
I only really work for these two builders as the have an ethical approach and understand the work involved so are not looking to slash your price to rock bottom as they would rather have a good job done than a lash up.
The commercial work normally comes from a company who do suspended ceilings, mezzanine floors and partitioning. They are in with a commercial landlord that owns around 6 industrial estates and in his terms and conditions he stipulates the tenant has to use this firm for any new works and when they move out they also have to use the same firm to put it back to original. I done a subby job for another sparks firm who done their work , they had a fallen out and they tried using a few other firms which wasn't much cop and eventualy I got a phone call asking if I wanted to quote a job. Been doing their work ever since.
