A merger just announced, of two well-known names in painting and decorating, indicates a welcome construction boom in North Wales.
Along the A55 corridor, Peter Lessiter of ProPaint has just merged his company with Ralph Durber, formerly of Durber and Evans of Prestatyn.
The 'ProPaint' name is the popular choice of the two friends, who are now the new company's joint managing directors.
Ralph (43) said: "Durber and Evans formed
by my father in 1963 in Prestatyn, has been making a great name for itself, ever
since, with the regions big name builders. When I took over 16 years ago we worked
even harder, growing our reputation and expanding over the border into Cheshire
and the Wirral.".
Peter Lessiter (40), who alone formed
ProPaint some twenty years ago and up till now has a staff 20 strong, said: " We
are delighted to get together. Ralph's customers are all the major builders and
he felt his company had reached its optimum output, as things stood. I felt I
could only go so far with our private customers, mostly on the residential side.
Now working together we can more than double our strength and capability".
Ralph's success is in construction, he feels, springs from the trust notched up in the building industry from his company's reputation for high quality performance and reliability.
Ralph Durber has worked for many years
with the major players in the North Wales construction industry. Some of the
better-known names include, David McLean Contractors, Watkin Jones, Anwyl Construction,
plus R.L Davies and Son Ltd.
Currently ProPaint contracts include a wide cross section of new building, which range, in Wales, west to east, from a prestige Marina apartments complex in Holyhead, new student accommodation in Bangor, Deganwy Quays Hotel, a new retail park and housing development in Abergele, a public pool in Buckley plus a prestige hotel chain in the North West, to the exclusive Hill Valley Golf Club in Whitchurch.
David McLean, Chairman of David McLean Contractors of Deeside said:
" I welcome the new move, especially as we have so many new contracts coming up this year"
Empire Building, ProPaint's own original
home in Rhyl with effortless access to the A55, will become headquarters to the
45 employees, which now make up the combined work force.
Mark Dale (43) of Rhyl, who has moved over
with Ralph will become Works Manager, the lynch pin of the new organisation.
The fleet of some 20 plus vans in the new silver red and blue livery have their own parking outside.
Part of the prestigious national Dulux
Contract Partnership and Construction Health and safety (CHAS) accredited, ProPaint
is exceptionally health and safety conscious with Daren Carney(39), of Rhyl,
as appointed contracts manager.
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STOP PRESS
Pictured below are Peter Lessiter joint MD of ProPaint and Adam McMaster, Winner of Crown Trade Young Decorator 2006.
It was third time lucky for Adam McMaster, a 19-year-old apprentice painter and decorator from Gwespyr in Flintshire who walked away from this year's national Crown Trade Young Decorator competition with his trophy and a cheque for £1000.
At only 17 and in his first year at Coleg Llandrillo in Colwyn Bay, Adam was first encouraged to enter the junior contest in 2004 by his P&D tutor. He went into the regional heat of the senior competition a year later, winning a place in the 2005 national final in Glasgow. This year Adam came back for more, winning the Welsh heat once again and then beat 13 other finalists in the 2006 national final held in Luton. The judges had no difficulty in awarding him top marks for his meticulously completed ‘test piece' which he had to create from a scaled diagram and decorated using different skills and techniques over the demanding three day contest.
Adam works for ProPaint in Rhyl
where he is one of two apprentices in a 45-strong team of painters and decorators.
Employer Peter Lessiter is thrilled with Adam's achievement but not totally surprised
that he came first in the final. “He's always been a great lad…one of the best
we've ever taken on at ProPaint… and he really deserved to win. It's the first
time we've had an apprentice involved in this contest, but having seen how Adam
has developed in terms of confidence, maturity and overall skill levels, I'd
urge other employers to give all the support and encouragement they possibly
can to any of their apprentices who show an interest.”
“We do a lot of contract work but we also have a private residential side to the business and give our apprentices as much experience on domestic jobs as possible. Our customers have been absolutely delighted to hear that they have the country's top young decorator working in their homes. They all want to know about Adam's claim to fame!”
“The focus of the competition, the extra training and the confidence boost from winning has really helped to develop him. So much so that I've given him a big pay rise! I don't mind though – it's an incentive for others and proves to my workforce that I stick to my word and reward employees who deliver great results.”
