Ideal Modular Homes is the brainchild of Liverpool entrepreneurs Luke Barnes and Graham Owens and their 70,000 sq ft facility at Triumph Business Park in Speke will operate 24 hours a day. Tony McDonough reports
A factory building modular homes and employing 150 people has opened in South Liverpool.
Ideal Modular Homes is the brainchild of Liverpool entrepreneurs Luke Barnes and Graham Owens and their 70,000 sq ft facility at Triumph Business Park in Speke has the capacity to produce more than 10 homes a week with a target of 450 in the first year.
Mr Barnes was previously a design engineer before turning developer and has worked on projects around the world. Mr Owens is a software engineer, who ran his own company developing bespoke operating systems for large corporations.
Both were frustrated by what they saw as slipping standards in the modular construction industry and decided to design and produce homes that exceed current building regulations. T
They are also working with the Buildoffsite Property Assurance Scheme (BOPAS) to ensure each of their homes meet their exacting standards, achieve maximum lifetime guarantees and most importantly, are mortgageable homes by being certified on the Lloyds register.
The business partners were keen to build the factory in the Liverpool region and have spent the last eight months fitting it out. The factory’s location in Speke means that they are less than five minutes away from the motorway network and it will operate 24 hours a day.
Ideal Modular Homes also provides a full in house design service with a dedicated team of architects and technicians allowing each scheme to be tailored to the individual clients’ specific requirements. The cost of this service is refunded to the client at the end of a project.
Mr Barnes said: “While looking into modular homes for my own development projects, I found there was a big gap in the market as there were no constructors that offered the quality, deliverability and competitive pricing I was searching for.
“Using our manufacturing design experience, we began designing Ideal’s modular system which produces high quality living space at affordable prices – homes that people can be proud of.”