After transitioning to employee ownership, leading contractor Precision Facades is shooting for its next big turnover milestone
Safety, quality, and sustainability: three words that have defined award-winning envelope contractor, Precision Facades, for nearly nine years. The company’s story began back in 2017 when Steve McGowan and James Lovell – two individuals with a wealth of experience in the cladding sector – decided to branch out and found their own distinctive contracting company. Initially established solely as a cladding contractor, the company quickly expanded its market presence, achieving a £20 million turnover after just three years in operation. Having maintained and augmented that success through the Covid-19 pandemic, Precision Facades continued to grow and evolve with the changing market, soon cementing its position as an industry leader in the UK’s construction sphere.
Today, almost nine years since its founding, Precision Facades has risen to prominence as the building solutions provider of choice for a multitude of sectors – offering everything from steel framing, rainscreen cladding, and curtain walling to glazing, insulated render, and building remediation. At present, the company specialises in large-scale residential and student accommodation projects, but its comprehensive scope of capabilities allows it to successfully and expertly deliver end-to-end building and maintenance work across the entire industry.
In 2025, Precision Facades was proud to announce its transition to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) – an evolutionary shift driven by the hard work, skill, and determination of its dedicated workforce. Whilst rewarding its team for their performance, this development also acts as a real driving force behind future longevity, further powering the company’s market-leading position for decades to come. Steve McGowan, Managing Director and Founder of Precision Facades, joins Construction & Civil Engineering to tell us more.
“Around two years ago, we received significant approaches and offers from PLCs and investment companies, some of which we did discuss, but none of them felt quite right. We walked away from those meetings saying that our biggest asset was our staff, and, while we did look at management buyouts, we couldn’t get the numbers to stack up,” Steve explains. “Employee ownership was the next journey for us; it made sense and was a good fit for the staff. It was a great decision for the longevity of the company, acts as a big reward for the staff who have grown this company and made it profitable, and it has given me confidence that it will remain successful after I retire.”
Collaboration and continuous improvement
From the initial design process through to engineering, quality control, documentation, and final delivery, Precision Facades’ consistent high standards and focus on excellence is driven by its skilled workforce. With more than 45 dedicated staff members across the business, the company upholds the highest standards of client service and care, championing a company-wide culture centred around collaboration and continuous improvement. To support this, Precision Facades is constantly reinvesting in its workforce; for instance, the company has recently invested in a new, state-of-the-art office space to support its continuing growth. Strategically situated in Preston Brook, Cheshire, this project is representative of the company’s commitment to supporting its people and fostering a caring and calm environment where they can thrive.
“In November 2024, we acquired a new office space, measuring at just under 9000 square feet,” Steve elaborates. “We invested a lot of our profits back into the new office, adding more meeting rooms, breakout areas, gyms, kitchen facilities, and so forth. This space will support us as we grow and strive to reach £50 million within the next five years, and the facilities are great for staff wellbeing.”
With the freshly refurbished space offering greater room for growth and innovation, Precision Facades can continue to drive its people development and recruitment processes. By nurturing a positive and collaborative workforce, the company can provide the very best services to its clients and make a real impact on its local communities.
“We conduct our interview process slightly differently. Rather than focus on qualifications alone, we try to find somebody who will fit in with our team,” Steve comments. “Culturally, our motto is definitely to work hard and play harder. We do lots of social events with our staff, but we also reward them with bonuses, other incentives, and we give them three paid days a year to do charity work. We’ve never been a company that just throws a big salary at someone on day one; we take a holistic approach in encouraging our staff to reach their goals.”
Growth trajectory
With its ninth anniversary on the horizon, it’s clear that Precision Facades’ journey thus far has been one of triumph. As the company looks forward to the year ahead, we asked Steve to share what he feels has been pivotal in Precision Facades’ extraordinary growth and success.
“We don’t get everything right all of the time, but our consistent successful delivery means that over 90 percent of our work is repeat business rather than competitive tender,” he reveals. “Another thing that has opened these opportunities for us is that our services are multidisciplinary, which has helped us to grow across the country.
“2025 has been a tough year. We’ve had to react to challenging market conditions and do things that are a little outside of our normal offering; for instance, we’ve moved into the low-rise sector to fill gaps and taken on smaller jobs that we’d have typically stayed away from, such as smaller hospital, school, and college projects,” Steve says. “The Building Safety Act has definitely delayed some of our projects, but we’re not far off our target turnover and, given our workload and reputation, I think that it’s definitely achievable.”
As Precision Facades embarks on its next chapter, dedication to its team, clients, and communities will continue to be the company’s greatest strength, alongside its extensive experience, expertise, and relentless pursuit of excellence. “Over the course of the next five years,” Steve concludes, “we hope that the business will be run fully under the Employee Ownership Trust – effectively and successfully.”