Nottingham’s Acres Group has begun 2022 on a high with the promotion of three staff members and several other new appointments in the pipeline.
The firm, based in offices at Nottingham Science Park, has expanded from the original Acres Architects into a group consisting of several divisions, including Acres Construction, Acres Interiors and Online Media Video Productions (OMVP), just in the past 18 months.
The same period has seen its staff base increase from four people to almost 20 – and counting. Similarly, its turnover has increased from a few hundred thousand pounds to a projected £10m turnover.
Founder and managing director Edward Acres has built on this success and rapidly expanding workload by rewarding three existing staff members with more senior positions this month.
Steve Taylor-Wilson moves from marketing manager to a new head of marketing role, while architectural technologist James Bridgett is promoted to an associate position, and Steve Clayton will oversee all aspects of the new OMVP division as production manager.
The group has also been busy interviewing candidates for multiple new vacancies, including architects, site managers, labourers and an estimating quantity surveyor, with a view to potentially doubling its workforce this year alone.
Edward said: “It’s great to recognise and reward the efforts of these three individuals. Since joining the group they have demonstrated a willingness to go above and beyond their roles and their can-do attitude has led to some amazing wins.
“We will continue to grow the business and we want to fill a number of vacancies across the divisions to help us realise our ambitious targets in 2022.
“We’re now in the fortunate position of being able to bring forward and inflate our planned recruitment drive.”
Edward, who founded Acres Architects from a laptop in his parents’ spare bedroom in 2008, laid down his ambitious plans for rapid growth and diversification at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, while many other practices were making cut backs.
The Acres Group can now handle every type and size of development – from private residential projects to large commercial contracts – from concept stage right through to completion. As a result, enquiries have rocketed and staff workloads have increased hugely.
Yet the common response among the Acres workforce is “bring it on!”
New head of marketing Steve Taylor-Wilson, who will oversee marketing activities across the entire Acres Group, said: “Ed’s vision and ambition are contagious. I’m extremely proud that he has the confidence in me to help us achieve the next set of targets.
“To be part of such a successful, expanding business is a wonderful thing. It’s hard work, but I relish every day in my job.”
Associate James Bridgett said that he was also proud to take on more responsibilities for such a forward-thinking company.
“I am thrilled to have been given the opportunity to progress within the company and take on the extra responsibility required as an Associate so early on in my career,” said James.
“It clearly demonstrates the trust Edward has in his team and ambitious nature of the company. I obviously jumped at the opportunity and look forward to hitting the ground running in 2022 and onwards to bigger and better things.”
And Steve Clayton said: “The more we succeed in our roles, the more the business will succeed. Ed’s commitment to promoting from within wherever possible not only engenders loyalty from the team but is also great for our clients as it provides continuity and clearly demonstrates how ambitious we are.”
To find out more about jobs available and services provided by the Acres Group, please visit www.acresarchitects.co.uk, email info@acresarchitects.co.uk or phone 0115 838 9738.