Its biggest contract is a £22.5m job to build Penrith’s New Squares development, which includes a Sainsbury’s supermarket and 173 houses. Work began on site last month and is scheduled for completion in early 2013.
It also has several other house building contracts in the region ranging up to £3.7m in value, for clients including Home Housing and Impact Housing.
The company was founded by Thomas Armstrong in Cockermouth in 1830 as a saw mill and joinery works.
Managing director Keith Denham told Cumbria’s Times & Star newspaper: “Despite the way the economy and the construction industry is at the minute, we have managed to buck the trend by securing these contracts.”
He added: “Other companies have had a reduction in their turnover and workforce but we have not had to do any of that. Despite all the doom and gloom around at the moment we have got the resources to complete all these jobs and we are continuing to move forward.”
Mr Denham said: “We run a very tight ship, look to control all our overheads and are diverse in what we do and produce. We manufacture most of our own products such as the concrete and building blocks that we use in these jobs.
In November the company acquired Bolton concrete producers Tayban, which had 80 employees.
Mr Denham said: “While other companies are struggling, we haven’t had to lay people off. We are continuously looking for new acquisitions and we feel this is the right time to do it. If there is the opportunity to expand the business we will pick up on it. We have been here since 1830, are one of the biggest employers in West Cumbria and we plan to stay here for the future.”
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