Carvers Building Supplies is another step closer to getting back on track, with the final phase of its £4m ‘Bigger and Better’ rebuild now under way.
Once complete, the new state-of-the-art building will house the main showroom, trade counters, offices and warehouse. A new-concept ‘builders’ village’ will also be introduced, housing specialists from window, roofing, electrical, tiling and decorating companies.
The 80 x 50 metre new building is designed to help lower Carvers’ carbon footprint, and new building systems are currently being investigated, including LED lighting, eco cooling and solar energy.
Local building and maintenance contractor AM Griffiths is working on the project, with groundworks currently in progress and the steel portal frame due to be erected in February. The building shell will be complete in mid June, with an internal fit-out due to take approximately eight weeks. The launch of ‘Carvers phase 2’ is scheduled for late August.
“The newbuild will be the final chapter in a difficult trading period since we lost our old building in a fire nearly two years ago,” said Bryan Purslow, operations director. “However, exciting times are ahead as we move into the final stage; our custom-built showroom will ensure an energy-efficient construction and the introduction of our builders’ village will expand previous trading facilities. We very much look forward to launching our new building late summer.”
In the meantime, customers are still able to gain access to the Carver site to use the temporary showroom facility and make use of the new drive-through warehouse, which houses a complete range of insulation, plasterboards, cement, timber and joinery products. The introduction of a computerised picking operation has reduced the time taken to serve customers.
A temporary bathroom showroom, new Kitchen Design Centre and Range Cooker Centre are also available on the Carver site and are open to the trade and general public.
