Pictured: Directors flying high at AM Access
Having the courage to invest right through the recession - and
do things differently - has made AM Scaffolding a leader in what it
does.
Constantly coming up with better, easier, safer and more
cost-effective ways of doing things has seen it boost its turnover
for two years running.
The Stoke-based family firm's business is getting clients into,
and out of, difficult spots - often at dizzying heights and
frequently in ways which ensure no damage is done to the fabric of
historic buildings and monuments.
Currently employing 11 highly qualified and accredited staff it
has, among many other things, invested in a fleet of German-made
'Spider-lift' type machines - some of which can lift two people and
tools more than 160 feet.
Rapidly deployable on site, they are ideal for tricky jobs in
busy streets while some are small enough to go through an ordinary
doorway for use inside buildings.
Moves like that, by what used to be a 'traditional' scaffolding
company, have helped make it a double nominee for The Sentinel
Business Awards, which are presented in association with North
Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the City of
Stoke-on-Trent.
The company is a candidate for the Staffordshire
University-sponsored Small Business of the Year Award and the
BIC-backed Business Innovation Award.
And earlier this year it won the West Midlands Centre for
Construction Excellence's SME award.
The citation for that award particularly recognised AM's
strengths in collaborating with its customers and developing
bespoke solutions to meet their needs.
Six years ago, having been founded in 1985, the firm focussed on
its future and began a root and branch regeneration.
Director Adam Gwynne, believing it had to offer would-be clients
something different, and more effective than the competition,
scoured the UK - and parts of Europe too - before finding a
Scottish company producing modern system scaffolding and
towers.
That sparked off continuous, so far, investment in new equipment
and intensive staff training, with Gwynne saying: "We couldn't
stand still, and began working with the firm to develop new
products and practices to meet the needs of our customers.
"We are no longer just a scaffolding firm. We have become
experienced specialists in access solutions, developing and
providing the solution most suitable for a client's particular
needs.
"As part of that we have been able to provide solutions to some
of the most complex access situations which no one in Stoke had
previously had an answer to - and we are doing that in safe,
competent, and usually relatively inexpensive ways compared to most
of the previous options."
Today AM is an approved contractor to Stoke City Council and
their strategic partner Kier, and is one of only three providers of
scaffolding services to the council.
"We also became their lead provider for works to public
buildings, due to our track record and innovation in design
scaffold."
For more information about AM Access, please visit their website
here: www.amaccess.co.uk