Serving the Teesside Business Community | 69
HOT PROPERTY
PI CTURE BY
DOUG M OO DY
A Tees Business Q&A with
Jonathan Carter (pictured),
operations manager of
Teesside-based commercial
construction firm 186
Property Solutions
Tell us about 186 Property Solutions –
when did you start, where are you based
and what do you do?
Our services range from industrial and office
remodelling, new builds, dilapidations works,
and both planned and reactive maintenance.
Based in Stockton, we started trading in
April 2016. I’m joined on the team by head
contracts manager Chris Lakey, contracts
manager Tony Gilholm, office manager Susan
Woodmansey and a dedicated in-house site
team that supports the delivery of all projects
and small works.
What have been your major commercial
property projects to date?
We’re proud to have won some major
instructions in our first two years of business
including the major refurbishment of Level
Q, a critically acclaimed office building in
Stockton.
We’ve also completed the refurbishment
of three heavily dilapidated rail repair
buildings in Ferrybridge for Davis Wagons,
which recently won the Best Project award
at the National Freight Awards, while it’s
also made the top two at the Rail Business
Awards within the Asset Management &
Maintenance Excellence category.
Over the summer, we had success
supporting local schools with classroom
refurbishments and we’re highly experienced
in assisting surveyors and business
executives with mitigating dilapidation claims
prior to a lease end.
The 186 Property Solutions team are
leading development of high-quality
office development, Level Q.
And the business is moving forward?
Yes, we’ve doubled the size of our fleet of
vehicles, more than doubled our directly
employed site team and implemented
more advanced work processes. We’ve also
created three specific service lines which
utilise three teams - major projects, small
works and maintenance. employees and our passion to deliver the
best product possible.
The contracting “game” isn’t something
we can change, even though we feel many
parts of it are archaic and slow, but we
believe there are better ways to play it and
we’ll always strive to ensure 186 are ahead
of the market.
Level Q has been dubbed Teesside’s most
luxurious offices. Your work there resulted
in developer Andy Preston describing 186
Property Solutions as “the best of the
best” and that you’re “full of hard work,
pride and no nonsense”. Tell us about your
work on Level Q.
Andy’s comment is very flattering, but I’m
sure he wouldn’t have said it if he didn’t
mean it. Level Q is a high end office fit-out
which, when complete, will be based over
three floors. The finishes from floor to ceiling
have the wow factor.
The offices provide a forward-thinking
space, providing tenants with something
more than just a workspace. I believe it will
set the blueprint for offices in the North-East
going forward and hopefully – given our
track record - we’ll be the first people other
owners call to implement their vision. What does the future hold for 186
Property Solutions?
The future looks bright. We have a clear
growth strategy and target audience, we will
continue to invest back into the business and
we’ll continue to grow our client base, both
locally and nationally. We’re looking to recruit
trades and build our head count but we’ll only
recruit the most highly skilled workers and
those who embrace our ethos.
So what makes 186 different from other
commercial construction companies?
I think there are many things that set us apart
including our process-driven approach which
ensures a high level of communication, our
What do you hope 186 Property Solutions
looks like in three years at its fifth
anniversary?
My personal goal is for 186 to win a
minimum of one award each year, as we’ve
done in our first two years.
We are committed to our staff and we’d
like to offer more benefits so that we
can attract the most skilled people. Many
contractors rely solely on freelance workers
so they can cut the wage bill as required. I
don’t think that’s the correct way to go, as it
doesn’t promote our core values. We want a
team that speaks highly of the company and
will recommend us to others.