Case Study -
Heavy business expansion at ALFA Engineering lightened by Springfield

• Modular office extension solves expansion needs
• Hiring offices creates a high quality and affordable solution without large capital outlay
• Speed of installation minimises site disruption

Overview

From its roots in light fabrication engineering, business at ALFA engineering has taken a decidedly heavy turn in engineering terms creating the need for extra space. It all began with an enquiry to provide structural components for a new bridge at Paddington train station.

The need to raise the bridge to accommodate HS2 in the future has led to an influx of business for ALFA Engineering providing large structural components for bridges and this, in turn, has created operational issues that needed to be resolved.  With new staff being taken on to handle the expansion there was a real need to expand to available office space beyond the current capacity of the 20 000 sq ft custom built factory.

For managing director, Chris Jones what could have been a complex issue had a straightforward solution. “Because of the time scales involved hiring additional office space was very much the way forward.” 

Key issues faced by Alfa Engineering

However, the first enquiries to suppliers fell short of ALFA’s requirements, “What we were seeing from the likes of Portakabin were clearly used buildings and relatively expensive ones at that.  Eventually, we had a chat with Springfield Mobile, following a recommendation, and for the same budget hired two brand new units that blend in really well with our high technology factory with more than enough space to house our new recruits and support staff”, adds Jones.

A further benefit of taking the modular building approach is that the factory is located on the Duke of Westminster’s Grosvenor estate meaning that traditional build would not only have been far more expensive but potentially far more time intensive in terms of planning, not to mention intrusive in terms of construction on what is already busy manufacturing site.

What Springfield did

Springfield Mobile’s managing director, Lyndsey Duggan adds, “Hiring a modular building can be a risky and expensive business. It really is worth looking beyond the big brands you see at the top of a Google search to get both the deal and building that you want. A lot of the stock being offered to customers is clearly well used and unless the supplier also is a manufacturer the units being supplied won’t be as new.  We’ve invested heavily in our stock for hire, meaning a lot of what we can provide is brand new stock and as a manufacturer means our refurbished stock literally is as new. From ALFA Engineering’s perspective, we supplied a newly built twin bay 40ft office for a similar price as a single bay 20ft unit that’s capable of meeting both their current and future needs.” 

Summary and key benefits

For ALFA Engineering it’s been a worthwhile exercise, “We’ve got the office space we needed, our costs have been controlled and Springfield have exceeded our expectations. I’d have no hesitation in recommending their services.”