An established Carlisle firm is embarking on a new chapter this week as it moves into its new £1.5 million facility in the city.

DSD Construction, founded by Denis Nugent 26 years ago, commissioned the bespoke base on Kingmoor Park North as it continues to grow.

The company provides construction services including road surfacing, construction and maintenance, civil engineering, plant hire and training services.

Over the last 10 years it has increased its number of employees to 160 and increased its annual turnover to £25 million.

It said the move to the new premises would likely be a catalyst for more growth.

The new 6,570 sq ft facility includes an office block and training suite. It also has a 2,500 sq ft garage to house its fleet of vehicles and equipment.

DSD Construction carries out highway surfacing and civil engineering works for local authorities across the country, including Cumbria County Council and Dumfries and Galloway Council.

DSD – named after Denis and his sons Shaun and Darren – also has a West Cumbrian office, which works with contractors based at nuclear complex Sellafield and the Low Level Waste Repository at Drigg.

Martin Tweddle, general manager for DSD, said: “I have worked for DSD Construction for the nine years and it’s been fantastic to be part of such a successful aspiring company.

"Both Shaun and Darren show true character and their determination to succeed is what has taken the business forward. DSD’s culture is based on family values and as such makes it a great place to work. "We are proud to employ over 160 local people making DSD Construction a significant contributor to our local community and economy.

"I’m very much looking forward to moving to our new home and continuing our growth in all sectors."

In 2016, on behalf of Cumbria County Council, the company was the first in the county to trial a bitumen substitute, made from waste plastic made by MacRebur, in Eaglesfield in Dumfries and Galloway.

Neil McIntyre, Kingmoor Park’s managing director, said: “We created a unique partnership with DSD to give them their ideal location on site.

"We have over 170 acres of development land some of which still needs the installation of new infrastructure.

"New roads in particular are needed to access parts of the site and when DSD showed interest in this particular plot we decided to fund a new estate road which would open up over five acres including the 1.5 acres now in DSD’s ownership.

"In keeping with our policy of using our own tenants where possible DSD were awarded the contract to build the access road to their own building."

Local companies involved in the new building include EcoGenics, Architects Plus, Compass, PMS, Carlisle Refrigeration, Carlisle Window Systems and Grafix Signs.