Liverpool city region construction company Sterling Services sets up contract cleaning division as it targets a turnover figure of £12m

A Merseyside family business that’s grown to become a multi-million-pound UK construction company has set up a new cleaning service to drive future growth.

Sterling Services (Northern), which started life as a Knowsley groundworks company turning over £250,000 in 2006, has just set up a contract cleaning division. This looks set to push turnover beyond the £12m mark this financial year.

Created to strengthen the business’s appeal as a true one stop shop for clients, Sterling will now offer construction, cleaning, electrical and maintenance in-house.

Under the company’s chief executive Paul Blennerhassett, Sterling increased turnover by 200% in the two years to 2008 before launching a building division in 2009, maintenance division in 2011 and electrical in 2019.

Now employing more than 75 full-time staff and apprentices, the company continues to work with some of the UK’s biggest companies. These include Asda and Certas Energy and across the NHS.

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And it looks set to go beyond £12m forecasted turnover with the addition of the cleaning arm. It has secured work with blue-chip clients who provide the large distribution centres for the likes of Pfizer, Tesco, and Heinz.

Mr Blennerhassett said: “Despite the difficulties of the pandemic and previous economic downturns we’ve managed to weather the storm and continue to grow. I think investing in our people and expanding our services despite uncertainty has been vital to our success.

“As we’re in construction, electrical and maintenance already, it made sense to invest in cleaning and introduce Chris Male as head of this division to add another string to our bow.

“Focusing on contract cleaning, high level cleaning, sparkle clean and builders cleaning post construction, we’re already forecasting a £500,000 growth in this division alone for the year ending 2023.”

The cleaning division follows the appointment of a new head of operations, Ian Stone, formerly of Seddon Construction. He has experience across many sectors and projects including Manchester Town Hall and Central Library, Clayton Square Shopping Centre in Liverpool, and British Nuclear Fuels in Preston.