From premium residential to landmark commercial schemes, Domis is pushing boundaries across Manchester and beyond
Most notable for building high-end residential properties in the Manchester area, Domis Construction (Domis) was launched in 2017 and is currently starting to take on more commercial schemes – including its recent St Michaels project for footballer Gary Neville’s Relentless brand. With a turnover of £256 million in 2025, Domis works closely with Salford-based property developer and key partner Salboy and continues to deliver a variety of impressive projects while remaining a hands-on family business.
Domis has six companies in total across its group, comprising of in-house mechanical and electrical contractors Matic, Wright Landscapes, M&E design company NOVO, bespoke joiners Casana Interiors, Domis Utilities, and Domis Construction. As a group, it offers a complete, multidisciplinary turnkey service from early design and utilities connections through to installation, handover, and aftercare. Steve Boyd, Operations Director of Domis Construction, joined the company in October 2024, enabling its Managing Director Kingsley Thornton to focus more strategically on the wider business.
“At Domis, it’s very easy to access Kingsley, Salboy, or myself,” Steve tells Construction & Civil Engineering. “Our agility and can-do attitude mean we’re more likely to take a calculated risk on a development and, if a problem appears, we’ll work out a way to solve it. I think this is why complex schemes come our way, because other contractors and developers may shy away from the risk profile associated with those jobs. We do have numerous exciting developments on the agenda, such as the St Michaels scheme, which is a combination of three different elements. We have an office block, a hotel and a branded residence – that will be the first branded residence in Manchester across a 40-storey building. There’s also the refurbishment of the Rylands building for AM Alpha, previously known as the Debenhams building, which has some of the most complicated structural interventions we have been involved with. Rylands is a speculative commercial development and is the latest of several non-residential schemes Domis has delivered to date. For the right opportunity and client, commercial contracting is a market that we are actively moving into as a group.”
Domis also began pre construction work on its Nobu Manchester project last year, which saw a groundbreaking ceremony in the city and a visit from Hollywood star Robert De Niro. The scheme boasts one of the tallest hotel, restaurant and residential towers in western Europe, reaching 246 metres and 76 stories, described by Steve as a ‘masterpiece’, designed by internationally renowned architects, Simpson Haugh and comprising of a new build integrated through existing Grade II listed railway arches.
Steve also reveals the company is venturing out of Manchester and has started work on a transition scheme in Leeds: “We made an active start on Leeds Urban Village at the end of 2025 – one of our key clients asked whether we’d consider moving into Leeds. It might only be an hour away, but it’s still a different market. After careful consideration with staff, senior management, and our supply chain partners, we decided we would be able to operate as successfully in Leeds as we can in Manchester and we now categorize Leeds as a growth city for us. We’re presently looking at two or three other projects there with existing clients.
“Regarding our supply chain, we negotiate on rates with the same companies for every job,” Steve elaborates. “Rather than running a full re tender process each time, we focus on early engagement and agreed commercial frameworks with trusted partners, while keeping performance, value and delivery standards under constant review. That consistency helps people plan, invest and take real ownership of outcomes on every scheme. Some of our supply chain partners have grown with us since 2017 and we have aligned behaviours because they’re on the journey with us. This level of connectivity applies to all our employees, as everyone has daily access to directors and we all have common goals and a clear understanding of what’s expected in the business. Our 400 staff are treated very well both financially and in the work environment with great workspaces supported by several team events throughout the year.”
Enhancing efficiencies
Marketing Lead at Domis, Joe Jeavons, adds: “One of the unique things we do here relates to our site offices; rather than just providing a temporary cabin fixed onto the site we look to match these spaces with our generational head office. Our new HQ is a great epicentre for the group, it has a gym and a sauna, and that same culture and comfort is fitted throughout our working environment. There’s an element of entrepreneurialism running through the company – we call it the ‘Domis DNA’ – a characteristic that encourages people to take on roles outside of their own, such as recruitment which is supported by training and marketing. Everyone takes on different facets because they’re keen to push themselves and the business further.”
Being a highly data-driven organisation, all of Domis’ project teams, software and systems used for managing safety and programs are based on outputs and raw data. It reviews numerous dashboards on a weekly basis, alongside digital platform tool Sablono and in-house IT resource technology, which has led to the majority of its projects being delivered early. The organisation is also beginning to explore the implementation of AI to speed up its processes and create more efficiency. Alongside the utilisation of digital technology, it also strives to increase sustainability and meet green targets across projects. “In the design stages especially, we’re always analyzing building physics to make it more energy efficient, how we can meet these parameters and how the building can sell itself as APC efficient,” explains Joe. “We look to apply various certifications, such as BREEAM, in every build that we do. NOVO, our in-group MEP designer, works at that entry point to make sure sustainability is at the forefront of a project from the start, setting the pace for the rest of the build.”
Unique projects in the pipeline
With sustainability and digital innovation high on the agenda for Domis and its clientele, Steve points out other key trajectories currently emerging in the construction industry: “We are facing some challenges at present, including the impact of trade tariffs and the Ukraine war continuing to affect raw material prices, along with funder confidence to invest in new schemes. We’re disappointed that we have not seen any notable reduction in construction costs post Covid and Brexit. In addition, the skills shortage in staff and workforce is driving wage inflation resulting in rising costs and having an impact on the ability to deliver schemes. This is only going to be further amplified to meet the current government drive to achieve 300,000 new homes per annum.
“However, the move towards prefabricated elements and factory type construction is a positive one. This drives more time efficiencies out of our programme periods, better quality control and reduces the impact of the skills shortage. We are also trialling several different façade techniques at present on some of our schemes.”
Aspirations for 2026 and beyond revolve strongly around Domis’ mentality of being a family business. “It’s important for us to maintain that relationship between our clients, supply chain and workforce with the senior management team,” Steve discloses. “We don’t necessarily want to be turning over £1 billion a year – our aim is to complete about eight to ten projects a year, continuing our business in and around the £300 million mark while ensuring they’re the right projects.”
“Pertaining to the number of projects that we focus on at a time, we’re going to concentrate on quality over quantity over the next five to ten years,” Joe contributes. “Looking at our current projects, Manchester is described as a ‘city of firsts – we’ve got the first branded residence with Saint Michaels, the North’s tallest tower, the highest hotel rooms in Western Europe in Nobu Manchester and plenty more in the pipeline that are unique, large-scale, high-value projects.”
“Being part of a group with Salboy also separates us slightly from others in the industry,” Steve concludes. “We’re happy to have conversations with selected clients around development partnerships, working alongside them in some of our past schemes and some going forward. By becoming that development partner with them, it’s helped to unlock schemes that may not have come to fruition without that financial contribution – it means we’ve all got skin in the game when it comes to the success of that development, which is a fantastic outcome for us and our clients.”