Gateshead’s G&B Civil Engineering on path to more growth after exiting North East Fund investment

A Tyneside civil engineering firm has exited its North East Fund agreement after more than doubling its turnover on the back of two investments.

Gateshead based G&B Civil Engineering has been trading for 43 years, offering civil engineering, construction, drainage and maintenance services to the public and private sector. The company first worked with regional fund management firm NEL Fund Managers in 2020 to secure a £50,000 investment from the North East Small Loan Fund, then sealed a £250,000 investment the following year from the Growth Capital Fund to give it the ability to take on more – and bigger – projects as a main contractor.

Since then, the business has more than doubled its turnover to around £7m and taken on new staff, growing its workforce from 28 to 45 people over the last three years, including the creation of a commercial team to seek out tendering opportunities and support contract bids. The investments allowed G&B Civil Engineering to invest in building its own plant fleet, paving the way for significant contract wins including Northumbrian Water’s procurement framework, on top of agreements it already had with Newcastle City Council and North Tyneside Council.

The company has also been involved in maintenance services for the Tyne and Wear Metro and Shields Ferry for the last 12 years, and worked on fertiliser manufacturer Brineflow’s multimillion-pound terminal at the Port of Sunderland. The company is run by managing director James Riley, who did his initial engineering training with the firm during his university holidays in the 1990s before rejoining six years ago to take up the top job.

Mr Riley said: “The business has made a great deal of progress since 2020 and doing so in a controlled, sustainable way with the backing of our North East Fund investments has put us in a very strong position for the future. Our focus has remained on the North East, where both the quality and quantity of work available remains strong, and we’re very selective about the types of contract opportunities we chose to go for to ensure that we’re managing our operations properly and can deliver the services clients require.

“Building a dedicated commercial team gives us the focus we need to maximise the chances of securing new contracts and framework agreements, and being selected by Northumbrian Water for their civil engineering procurement framework is testament to the quality and cost-effectiveness of the services we provide. We’ve retained a positive working relationship with the NEL throughout the investment period and their backing has made a substantial difference to what we’ve been able to achieve over the last four years.”

Jane Siddle, senior investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, added: “G&B presented us with a detailed, robust business plan that formed the basis of its growth ambitions, and it’s been fantastic to see how the business has used our investment to deliver on its objectives. Their success reinforces the importance of having a strong, consistent flow of growth capital available to ambitious North East businesses. We wish the team the very best for the future as they look to build on their very impressive achievements of the last four years.”