Origins

Current directors Daniel Watts & Kieran Chesby established D & K Carpentry in 2007. Ultimately driven by their desire to work for themselves and to succeed, the motivation was derived from their belief they could offer a better service to the construction industry using their ten years of experience as site carpenters. A deciding factor was having Daniel’s brother running a successful brickwork company, which gave them an insight into running a construction company at site contract level. The major challenges faced during the first three years included generating business with new clients, complying with contractor health and safety regulations, building a solid administrative base, sourcing a highly skilled workforce and placing systems of work in place.

Success Factor

The ethos of establishing strong relationships with existing clients by delivering exceptional quality of work on projects whilst adhering to time limits and health and safety regulations has generated substantial repeat orders with the reputation gained delivering new clients to its sales ledger. In addition, the firm has built a dedicated team of qualified staff consisting of site managers and supervisors, contracts managers, technical office staff and a network of skilled carpenters. This has been complemented by the operation of an apprenticeship scheme that has ensured a stream of qualified carpenters that are already trained to work to the firm’s systems of work. Another factor that has contributed to the growth of the business is ensuring the company and its staff are compliant to all regulations. Through toolbox talks and site meetings a safer environment of work has been created and it gained several nationally recognised accreditations such as CHAS, SMAS and NHBC Safemark demonstrating the company commitment to the highest standard of work.

The Future

D & K Carpentry will continue to build on relationships with existing clients and attract new clients through its established reputation across Wales and England. Completing projects such as the UK’s first amphibious house in Marlow has shown the firm is capable of undertaking a wide variety work. It plans to move to a larger office and workshop premises to be able to offer a fully designed timber frame production facility and continuing its vision of designing and manufacturing custom orders to clients needs, reducing costs and lead times without compromising on quality.