There is no denying it’s been an extremely tough 18 months for businesses all across the UK, with many sadly having to close their doors permanently. So, it’s great to hear there are some companies (other than Amazon and Ocado!), which have managed to buck the trend and come out the other side stronger than when they entered the pandemic. It’s even better when you discover that the business in question is a local Lincolnshire business and Team Lincolnshire member!

BESA is a construction and building services company that was set up back in 2010 by Benn Kay and Sam Scoffield. Headquartered in central Lincoln, the company now operate nationwide, providing construction, asbestos and facilities management services.

“The start of 2020 was a very scary time for all business owners, a lot was totally new and unknown,” explains BESA’s Financial Director Benn Kay. “We were extremely lucky however to be able to work within the government guidelines and carry on with the majority of our services. Then, midway through the second lockdown, we decided the only way to ensure we didn’t just survive but thrived as a business, was to invest in our people. I can thankfully say it’s been our best move to date.” Since the start of the pandemic BESA have employed five new people at their HQ in Lincoln, including their new Head of Operations, Mathew Ragless. They are also currently recruiting two new surveyors, one in Manchester and the other in London.

BESA’s management team also decided to use this time to update their targets and strategies, and as a part of this, to rebrand the company. Managing Director Sam Scoffield said, “We used the pandemic to take stock and look at the business as a whole, look at where we were and where we planned to be in five and ten years time. Something we’d known for a while and that we needed to investigate, was how BESA was viewed by our clients and within the industry as a whole.

"We’re extremely lucky to mostly work with long-standing repeat clients, and are very proud of the fact that we still work with the majority of our original clients. This is testament to the great work the team do and the relationships they’ve built. However, what we found was that even many of these longstanding clients didn’t know the full extent of the services BESA offer. As the business has grown, so has our service offering, but we’d failed to properly articulate this to new, as well as existing clients. That’s what the rebrand has been all about; showcasing the types of projects we work on, as well as the range of construction, asbestos and facilities management services we carry out.”

It seems to have paid off, as this year alone BESA have been awarded their three largest construction contracts to date, including the groundworks package at Woodhouse Link, a new £8m, eight acre employment site in Sheffield. They have also been awarded nationwide asbestos and fit-out contracts by Frasers Group, completing multiple store fit outs across the UK, including new Sports Direct, Evans Cycles and Flannels stores, which are now welcoming shoppers back to the high street. As well as working further afield, BESA have multiple projects currently running within Lincolnshire itself. “It’s been an extremely busy time, we’ve been very lucky and our hard work and investment back into the business is paying off,” explains Head of Operations, Mathew Ragless. “We have not only employed local talent, but are also working with and promoting Lincolnshire businesses, which is vital to boosting the local economy”.

Well, we for one are very pleased to hear of the company’s success over the past 18 months, and long may it continue as the country and economy start to open up and thrive once again.

To see what other projects BESA are currently working on please visit: www.besagroup.co.uk