A Bradford-based contracting, manufacturing and shopfitting company is looking ahead with confidence after securing UK-wide contracts worth £5 million.

PEC, based at the Euroway estate near the M606, has continued to win work for leading retailers, in spite of the tough climate on the high street.

Managing director Sohan Panesar puts the firm’s continued success down to its ability to compete on price while retaining quality and investing in a prestigious office base in London’s Mayfair.

Mr Panesar said PEC, which last year created around 20 new jobs and employs 120 people, was coming out of the recession with a record number of projects after expanding into new sectors.

He said: “Despite the gloomy news from the high street, we have noticed many retailers are investing in their in-store customer experience by upgrading facilities for shoppers. On the high street it seems companies are either doing very well or very badly and going out of business and there’s no in between.

"There’s also rising demand from healthcare organisations, as many health services move out of traditional medical centres to community-based and private practices.

“We’ve worked hard to break into new markets and have completed projects ranging from the award-winning refurbishment of dementia wards for Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust to the extension and refurbishment of a Bradford dental practice and Leeds Building Society’s branch refurbishment programme.

“"Having a London base with a prestigious address has also generated enquiries and is proving its worth.”

PEC will this year send teams around the UK to work on refurbishment, building and internal fit-out contracts for clients including car servicing and repair company Kwik-Fit, marketing agency Momentum, and Leeds Building Society as well as ongoing work with Majestic Wine and Morrisons supermarkets.

Long-standing clients also include Magnet, Homebase, Bupa, Q Park, Saint-Gobain, Principles, Crown Paints, Jewsons, Aagrah Restaurants and NHS Trusts.

“We’ve made some changes to our business to help us emerge stronger from these difficult times and I’m happy to say we continue to grow, expanding into new sectors and overseas markets.

“Our bespoke manufacturing workshop in Bradford guarantees quality as well as the capacity to meet the deadlines that many of our fast turnaround projects demand. Our manufacturing operation has helped us with work overseas, which we’re looking to do more of,” said Sohan Panesar.

PEC has recruited a new administration manager, Barbara Leece, to assist with the structuring of quality management systems as it prepares for ISO9001 accreditation, and electrical project manager Andrew Hall to help with the increase in electrical projects. A temporary post has also been created in its estimating department to cope with a growing number of enquires.