Family-run business SD Team, which first opened its doors in 1973, celebrates its 50th birthday as one of the UK’s largest repair and sealant companies, with four offices across England, Scotland and Wales this year.
From its headquarters in Caldicot, Wales, it now employs over 200 staff members across a range of divisions that work all over the UK and beyond.
Since 1973, the business has employed hundreds of staff and worked on around 22,000 projects a year across the United Kingdom, including notable sites such as the Commonwealth Games Village in Glasgow, the SS Great Britain, Goodwood Racecourse, Bristol City Football Club and many more.
In what is a landmark year, the business will also be celebrating a significant 21% revenue growth for the last 12 months and will be making additional appointments to support this increasing business demand.
Managing director Nick Jones said: “We are delighted to be celebrating 50 years of business, it’s unbelievable to me that the team have come so far from a small, family run enterprise to the company we see today, with the same core values.
“We pride ourselves on taking care of customers and the community that we have built over the years. The time has flown by and it’s great to see how far the business has come since its start in 1973.”
The business was known as S&D Mastics and located in Dorset, but in 1985 it moved to South Wales with ten staff members. After being renamed S&D Sealants Ltd, hiring more staff and training sealant applicators.
The company was acquired by Nick Jones in early 2009, and in 2016 purchased its headquarters with 53 staff. He added: “As we move forward, we don’t intend to rest on our laurels. We have big plans to develop the business throughout the UK and even into Europe. We are actively expanding our presence across the world – from new offices to Caribbean marine repairs and will continue to scale up production to meet the demands of our clients.”
To mark the occasion, SD is launching an all-new training programme called SD Academy that aims to develop necessary practical skills in complex surface repair. The academy will be based in Caldicot to conduct off-site classroom teaching at a time of skills and labour shortages in the construction industry.
The business will also be taking a sustainability pledge, which encourages businesses to consider greener alternatives. As an industry leader in cosmetic repair, SD intends to set the bar high and ensure that its trained technicians offer only the best service in sustainable restoration even to the most heavily damaged items. This approach has been successful and led to many businesses becoming returning clients.
