A FORMER joinery apprentice expects his new business venture to book more than £1 million of turnover in its first year.
David Brown has taken his insurance contractor and building services firm LBSI from six people to 22 and plans to bring this up to about 40 in the second year.
The Perth company is also looking at expansion into the north of England and growing its recently opened Stonehaven office.
David Brown started LBSI in January this year and it has already brought in about £800,000.
The 33-year-old had brokered a deal with Dundee-based Logie Building Services to buy the insurance contracts division and transfer six staff.
Much of its work comes via intermediate companies acting for insurers, with LBSI specialising in salvage and restoration of domestic and commercial properties damaged by incidents such as fire and flooding.
It also tenders for one-off contracts worth five and six-figure sums, as well as operating in the general domestic building market.
Mr Brown said if the company continues the growth pattern it has seen so far, it will achieve its first year targets and will be on course to bring in £2.5m of turnover in year two.
He said: "We are about to break into our busy time of the year so should blow the million.
"If we keep growing, then we will need to take on more staff.
"We have also been approached by a few other people who operate building repair networks with a view of us going on to their network."
Although already covering all of Scotland, Mr Brown is keen to expand further into the west of the country and is also considering moving into the north of England.
He said: "We drive three hours north of where we are based now, so I don't see a problem with going into England. There is a lot of opportunity there."
Mr Brown said the company, which is also a member of the Federation of Master Builders, is considering how best to gather more general building work, particularly in and around the strong Aberdeenshire economy.
He said: "I'm looking at possibly spending a day a week running things in Stonehaven. It is early days there and we have not yet gone chasing the market there.
"Although we do general building work as well, we have not gone after it to any degree so would like to take a bit more as I don't just want to rely on insurance work. We have the people to turn our hand to any kind of building projects."
Mr Brown confirmed he is also eyeing new business opportunities in the industrial and agricultural sectors.
After leaving school at 16, he worked as a tradesman until he was 25 before making the switch into management roles.
He said: "I think [my background] of experience in a lot of different areas of the building trade gives people a bit of comfort when you can actually explain the mechanics of things to them."
And Mr Brown believes the way LBSI uses technology is helping it to win further business from across the industry.
He added: "We have embraced technology where traditionally in the trades there are a lot of technophobes.
"So despite the fact I didn't have an email account until 2006, I have got to grips with the latest technology.
"I've brought in changes that really free up staff time, such as smart phone and tablet apps that allow them to upload data immediately so that the admin team can continue working on their case."
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