Business in Action, Francis Construction, sponsor Boyes Turner
A company which started in Tilehurst in 1889 has continually dedicated time and effort to the Reading community, says its nominator for the Business in Action award.
Francis Construction has raised or donated £25,000 to charities and their local community in the last four years alone, said the nominator, adding: “The business and their employees are continually volunteering their time.”
Examples are charity golf days, presentations at schools and colleges and inviting students to carry out workshops with them, and community maintenance projects as well as actively offering paid time off for volunteering to their employees. Staff have volunteered around 1,300 hours over the last five years, they added.
Young people and education are important to the company, said another nominator. It supports No5, the free Reading confidential counselling and mental health support group for people aged eleven to twenty-five as well as the Thames Valley Air Ambulance, raising in excess of £15,000.
The company was started by the Francis Brothers and the first recorded invoice was between them and another Reading family business, A.F. Jones, Stone Masons, who still have their head office in Bedford Road. The two companies still work together today, said another nominator.
Colin and Rodney Barrett bought Francis Brothers in 1964. Rodney was the father of today’s chair Mark Barrett and grandfather to the present-day managing director Will Barrett, they said.
Mark took over the family business in 1980 and the company has a tradition of supporting trade organisations, said the nominator, with Mark having held the presidency of the national Federation of Master Builders and chaired the local Reading Branch.
He has chaired the Thames Valley Construction Training Organisation for more than 20 years and was a founder member of the SECBE Construction Excellence awards. He is also a governor at the Wren School.
The Business in Action award is sponsored by leading UK law firm Reading-based Boyes Turner.
