While all businesses recognise the value of repeat customers, Jez Reddecliffe of JRJ Construction has turned it into an art form.

His responsive, quality workmanship and attention to detail has ensured that in many cases an initial enquiry has resulted in a valuable pipeline of ongoing conversion, refurbishment and new build projects supporting farmers and landowners across Kent, Sussex and beyond.

“I would say 90% of our work is repeat business,” said Jez, who offers a complete service, from repairs and maintenance projects to groundworks, on-site steel fabrication and welding, cladding, roller shutter doors, mezzanine flooring and roofing.

At Priest Hawes Farm at Hailsham, East Sussex, Jez was asked to look at a leaky gutter with a view to installing a liner. After chatting to the owner about the best way to keep the buildings, which were being used for caravan storage, in good repair, JRJ Construction was asked to replace the roofs and guttering on two buildings.

“I offer sensible, straightforward advice and make sure my pricing is competitive,” Jez explained. “Customers value that approach and once they know they can rely on you to do a good job they keep you on speed dial for any future projects.”

Guttering seems to be a recurrent theme in JRJ’s impressive pipeline of projects. At Odden Farm, Woodchurch, near Ashford, the company was first brought in to replace a valley gutter.

“I guess we did a good job, as the farmer then contacted me when he wanted to lay on a power supply to the farm that would allow him to diversify into business units,” he recalled. “Up until that point he had been relying on a diesel generator.”

Jez was asked to lay a concrete base suitable for the pre-formed kiosk that would house the three-phase supply. “It sounds like a simple job, but it had to be exactly the right size, built to UK Power Networks’ specification and have chamfered edges and all the right ducting ready for the cable connections,” he explained.

With the power supply installed, JRJ Construction is now working on the actual conversions so that the units can be let to clients. The company is currently turning one 30m by 20m building into three units, carrying out on-site steel fabrication and installing roller shutter and personnel doors, as well as refurbishing a second building.

Much of JRJ Construction’s work is around converting farm buildings in support of renovation projects, although it also carries out new build work, including completing a new 25m by 12m store for the Biddenden branch of Youngs Timber & Builders Merchants.

Again, being asked to build the new store followed an earlier project which saw JRJ Construction brought in to carry out some refurbishment work to the roof or the independent company’s Dymchurch store. “The roof work led to us being asked to carry out the Biddenden project and we are about to do some repair work for Youngs’ Folkestone branch,” Jez said. At Biddenden, the team installed precast concrete panels and carried out the roofing and cladding work, as well as installing roller shutter doors and personnel doors.

When it comes to cladding, JRJ Construction turns on every occasion to Southern Sheeting for supplies of everything from steel sheets and flashings to rooflights, fixings and insulated panels. “We get great customer service from the team at Southern Sheeting and it’s an ideal ‘one stop shop‘ for everything we need,” said Jez

The highly diversified A A Clifton Ltd farming, renewables and lettings business based on Romney Marsh has also come to depend on JRJ Construction for a range of work in support of its wide-ranging enterprises.

After initially being asked to carry out repair and refurbishment work for the diversified family business, Jez was asked to replace steel grain walling in a 1987-built grain store at its headquarters at Haguelands Farm, Burmarsh.

As with so many of his other clients, Jez has since become the company’s ‘go to’ contractor for a wide range of building projects large and small.

At nearby Sycamore Farm, where A A Clifton has a number of industrial units for rent, JRJ Construction is working through a range of refurbishment projects, recladding the buildings and carrying out any necessary repairs to keep the units in good repair for the site’s varied customer base.

“We tend to tackle one major refurbishment a year, along with a range of other maintenance and repair projects that crop up along the way,” explained Jez, who runs JRJ Construction with the support of wife Jade, who is also kept busy looking after their five year-old son Roman. Jez and his long-standing staff member Daniel Vasile are supported by trusted sub-contractors when a bigger team is needed.

Streetspace, which manufactures covered space structures and urban street scene products, turned to JRJ Construction for help in smartening up the tired headquarters they were leasing in Lympne, Kent. Jez and his team re-clad the building and replaced all the flashings, creating a smarter and fitting headquarters for the company.

One of JRJ Construction’s most impressive transformations saw a 1990s built, open-fronted pole barn at Spratling Court Farm, Manston, converted into four industrial units for David and Piers Steed, complete with a concrete floor and steel work. “It was a challenge to turn an old pole barn that had been open to the elements for decades into a usable modern building, but the end result was worth the effort,” said Jez.

At Great Brooksend Farm, Birchington, the salty coastal air had made life tricky for farmer David Snell by corroding the roller shutter doors to his grain store and making them hard to operate. JRJ Construction made life easier by replacing them with new, electrically powered roller shutters and making the doors higher to make loading easier at the same time.

“Our success to date reflects our attention to detail,” said Jez. “It may only be replacing a valley gutter, but if you make a good job of it, there’s no telling where it will lead.”

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