School’s out - so A1 cashes in

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 11 October 2019

UPDATED: 11 October 2019

A1 Flue Systems has completed a raft of projects totalling £850,000 in a frantic six-week period installing flue and chimney systems during the school summer holidays.

The Ollerton-based company – which is the UK market leader in the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of commercial and industrial chimney, flue and exhaust systems – has completed a busy summer programme of work installing flue systems at schools, colleges and universities across the UK.

A1 Flues has added the £850,000 summer business boost to figures released earlier this year where it reported securing £1.2m of education projects – taking the total to more than £2m for the last 12 months.

Managing Director John Hamnett said that A1 Flues goes into overdrive during the summer holiday period, as that’s a good time for schools in particular to get construction or refurbishment projects completed.

“We’ve had another busy spring and early summer manufacturing systems in the run-up to the school holidays and then getting our installation teams on sites up and down the country fitting flue and chimney systems,” he said.

“We work closely with a host of construction firms and facilities management companies, so A1 Flue Systems is very often specified on both new-build and refurbishment projects – which is why we secure so many projects in the education sector, where there are defined times of the year when work on HVAC systems can be carried out.

“Although school projects mount up in the run-up to and during the school six weeks’ holidays, we have sufficient capacity within our design, engineering, manufacturing and installation departments to handle the spike – and still ensure the delivery of all the other projects we are working on at any one time.”

The average cost for a project was around £5,000 for a school or college to have a new flue system designed and installed for the boiler system that provides heat and hot water.

Its work in the education sector forms part of what the company calls its ‘bread and butter’ projects, which also include hotels, office blocks and public buildings. Although these are the lifeblood of the business, it’s the high-profile projects that grab the headlines.

Recently, A1 Flues secured a multi-million pound contract to manufacture nine British-made 100-metre tall chimney systems to be installed inside two of the four iconic chimneys at Battersea Power Station in London.

As part of the redevelopment of the site of the Grade II* listed building, the company has been working on-site at the main energy centre (MEC), installing the flue modules for the South West and North East Wash Towers.

Mr Hamnett, who was recently appointed as the company’s new Managing Director, added that the company delivers the same level of excellence, pride, passion and precision whether it’s for a primary school or a skyscraper.

“A1 Flues has become the UK centre of excellence for the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of commercial chimney systems – and this is all due to the expertise and experience of the 140-strong team of people at A1 Flues,” he said.

“We keep learning from every project we complete and continue to accumulate a level of knowledge that we can apply moving forward because for us, every day is a school day.”

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