A West Midlands building services consultancy which was founded just after the first lockdown is set to accelerate its growth after moving into its first permanent offices.
Ingeniare, founded by Lee and Jessica Gwilliams in April 2020, has signed a lease on offices at Blythe Valley Innovation Centre – part of the University of Warwick Science Park - in Solihull after growing its client base and establishing itself in the industry.
The company works with end-users, developers, contractors and architects to design all the internal systems of a building, such as the electrics, air conditioning, heating, ventilation systems, and much more.
These systems are designed using cutting-edge techniques such as building information modelling (BIM) and building energy modelling for a whole host of building types, such as residential, hospitals, offices, factories, laboratories, and schools.
Ingeniare collaborates with its clients to ensure their buildings are energy-efficient through recommending passive building features and greener internal systems and renewable energy sources within the design process.
The business’s growth increased significantly in the last year with Ingeniare winning work on several major projects around the country.
Jessica said: “In the last 12 months we have delivered some interesting and high-profile projects. We are thinking strategically over the next three to five years if there is scope for us to expand into other disciplines and even take the business international.”
With the growth of clients and projects there was a strong need to expand offices, and when Ingeniare saw a vacancy at Blythe Valley Innovation Centre, the team felt it could be a great place to base themselves with other major construction and engineering companies close by.
Lee and Jessica were impressed with the flexibility of the lease which allows them to move offices within the building as they grow.
Lee added: “It’s the little things about Blythe Valley Innovation Centre that have helped us since we moved in. The communication with the team has been exceptional right from the start, and they take care of all the minor issues that used to eat into our time.
“When you’re trying to grow a business, this is really important. It just means we can put our energy into building our team, delivering projects and winning more work.
“The links with the University of Warwick were attractive to us too. Having a pool of talented graduates to recruit during our period of growth is a fantastic resource for us.
“We’re confident we’re in the right place to take Ingeniare to the next level, and we’re looking forward to working on some really exciting projects in the near future.”
Andy Stewart, manager of the Blythe Valley Innovation Centre, said: “Ingeniare has done fantastically well to get to where it is considering it started right as the pandemic began to bite, and we’re delighted to welcome the team to Blythe Valley Innovation Centre.
“We’re looking forward to helping Lee and Jessica grow Ingeniare even further over the next few years, and we’ll continue to provide the business support they need along their journey.”
CAPTION – From left: Mark Tock (Chief Operations Officer at University of Warwick Science Park) Lee Gwilliams, Jessica Gwilliams, Andy Stewart