Core Sampling

Hull engineering firm makes £100,000 investment

HULL-BASED specialist contractor Precision Drilling has invested £100,000 in new machinery and equipment as it continues to grow.

Current managing director Ian Wilkinson bought the company from his stepfather and his business partner in 2013.

Since then, Mr Wilkinson and his team have injected £250,000 into the development of the business, and have secured work with Associated British Ports on the £11m revamp of Grimsby Docks, Drax power station, the University of Hull and Leeds Beckett University.

Precision is backed by Green Port Growth which saw a £25,000 investment in equipment such as a ring saw, drill motors and wet vacs.

Mr Wilkinson worked at the iconic Aunt Bessies prior to taking over Precision. He said: “I wanted to do something for myself. When I took over the business, we invigorated our marketing activities and invested in equipment and vehicles.”

In six months Mr Wilkinson had helped turn the firm around after a difficult trading period, a hangover from the recession.

He said: “The challenge really invigorated me, in a way that you don’t get in bigger organisations.

“There are a lot of big companies and it’s a big challenge working to the same level. Before we were just ticking along nicely. Now we want to move forward.”

The firm has a wide range of projects they can work on – basically anything with a solid surface that needs a specialist driller, and has worked on everything from nuclear power stations to penguin enclosures.

“We work for so many companies across many sectors, and have tried to open up this range of clients.” Mr Wilkinson said. “Construction is cutthroat and contractors are pushed and challenged by developers, which is then passed on to subcontractors like ourselves. But the bottom line is big contractors rely on the specialisms of smaller firms, they can’t afford to have a dedicated team in-house for just the occasional job. The training our team goes through wouldn’t be cost-effective on a massive scale like that.

“Developers come to us because they’ve tried so many other companies that just don’t have the expertise or equipment we do. One project involving fitting shock absorbers in a 1 metre-wide concrete tunnel, no one else in the UK could have done it.”

Though the firm works throughout the UK, Mr Wilkinson and his team are firmly based in Hull (“If you see a hole drilled anywhere in Hull, it was probably us!”) and consider the Humber region a “sleeping giant.”

“Team Humber and big companies such as Dong, Able UK and Siemens moving in will attract more medium and large businesses to the area. There’s been a lot of development work on derelict sites and on the roads.

“Team Humber is a brilliant organisation as well, and helps us meet people we wouldn’t normally come across, so we can expand into more areas and get our name out there. Hull is tucked out of the way, but there is so much going on here, not just on the industrial side but retail and leisure as well. It gets bad press but Hull is moving on.

“Our staff are so committed, they care and have the skills and knowledge to back it up. The experience myself and other team members have brought has made it a better-rounded business.
The firm has a turnover of £500,000 and employs 10 staff, including seven drilling and sawing operatives.