Team in Focus | Chord Consult
Chord Consult is a new mechanical and electrical consultancy, established in April 2022. Set up by four directors who individually have significant experience working in the public sector, the team wanted to utilise their expertise and knowledge and build up their portfolio of work in the public sector.
One of the problems faced by start-up businesses in the consultancy and construction industry is access to public sector projects, and this is where becoming a supply chain partner of Perfect Circle has been hugely beneficial to Chord Consult and helping their growth over the past 24 months.
Chord Consult is based in the East Midlands, and its directors have strong historic relationships with the Perfect Circle principal partners – particularly Pick Everard in Leicester and Gleeds in Nottingham. Having worked extensively with Perfect Circle under previous employment, a large element of trust and the awareness of Chord Consult's technical ability has been long established. This, combined with Chord’s collaborative ethos, meant that it was well placed to add significant value to clients and partners of Perfect Circle.
Having successfully completed its due diligence framework application in June 2022, Chords first appointment on Perfect Circle was made within weeks, on a 2415m² distribution hub extension in Leicester. This was closely followed by six further appointments within their first year of trading. By the end of their first financial year, Perfect Circle was already Chord’s third largest client, providing 12% of its total turnover.
This has remained consistent throughout its second year and it is continuing to grow as Chord enter its third financial year. As Chord’s reputation grows with Perfect Circle’s clients, so has the size and nature of the schemes it is tendering for.
Nottingham Central Library
“With previously established relationships with Perfect Circle’s partners, accessing the framework was a key part of our business start-up strategy. Getting on the framework was easier than we thought, and within our first year we were securing appointments on the framework were proving invaluable to our growth.”
Chord Consult Director Matt Wrate
Leicester Market
Most recently, Chord was successful in tendering for a major 1,000 bed student residential development procured directly for an East Midlands University group. Having previously had strong experience with private developers in the residential sector, Chord was approached by Perfect Circle to deliver the commission. As a single appointment this project potentially amounts to around 20% of Chords annual turnover.
“For a start-up business, accessing large public sector schemes can be really difficult. Standard requirements of public sector opportunities often include having three years trading accounts, or formal ISO9001 systems. As a start-up business we simply couldn’t respond to this. Perfect Circle has provided us with growing access to the public sector and allowed us to demonstrate first-hand the genuine value we can bring.”
Chord Consult Director Alex Jones
Nottingham's Green Heart
“Perfect Circle has been a fantastic framework for Chord Consult. It’s allowed us to quickly access the sectors we’ve always excelled in, alongside access to a community of alliances within the industry. As a start-up we’ll always be grateful for all Perfect Circle has done for us.”
Chord Consult Director Ash Cowdrey
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