In-house building maintenance teams or using external contractors? What is your business currently choosing to do?

I have been working in construction for nearly 40 years and running my own business for the majority of that time, specialising in both domestic residential conversions,  working directly for the homeowner as well as architects and surveyors, as well as developing relationships with commercial clients, specifically specialising in the boutique and private hotel and leisure sectors.

I have had many conversations over the years with my customers as to their approach to this question and it still seems that there is a hybrid solution for most smaller hotel and leisure companies.

Providing a full-time, around-clock maintenance operation onsite in a hotel or leisure setting is often an expensive option, especially in today’s market, where there is still a huge shortage of good all-round engineers, who are able to provide a range of skills from basic electrics, plumbing, decorating and carpentry, where they could be fixing a leaking tap at 2 in the morning or redecorating a room, after a party of guests have left the facility not as they found it!

It seems to me that this service still seems to be best managed in the house although the cost seems to be higher, outsourcing seems to work well when there is a larger group with outlets in close proximity. Elivate Ltd has provided building services for this smaller niche industry for the last 15 years, creating a team of construction workers that understand our client’s needs by providing building services across a portfolio of their outlets.

Getting to know our client’s businesses is our number one priority, as understanding how the leisure and independent hotel industry works means we can step in when our clients need us the most. We tend to find we are called in for more specialist works or when they need larger construction knowledge. Now we have that insight we can also step up when they are short-staffed or struggling to recruit.

If you manage a small group of hotels or leisure facilities and need the support of a builder who has taken the time to get to know your industry, get in touch for an initial chat.