Osprey wins £750,000 worth of contract work

The latest order for Wem-based Osprey Irrigation involves the installation of a watering system for a wet handling skid pan for leading motorsport and automotive technology specialists Prodrive Ltd; which is responsible for the design and development of road cars and the running of teams in Formula One, World Rally Championships and Le Mans.

New contracts include Birmingham City Council appointing Osprey to work on various golf courses and stadia within the area, as well as being commissioned by Alsager Golf Club in Staffordshire to install a complete irrigation system.

Commenting on the orders, Jon Jinks (left) said: "Clearly, this is a significant chunk of new business that we have gained, but we have the resources and infrastructure to accommodate it.

"Much of our work comes through recommendation and our customer base has a substantial number of big name companies and organisations amongst it. These include many high profile golf clubs including Royal St. David's and Royal Porthcawl, as well as local ones in Shrewsbury and Wrekin.

"We also maintain football pitch systems for numerous clubs including: Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Derby County, Mansfield Town, Walsall and West Bromwich Albion."

Osprey was launched in May 1999 by Jon and co-founder Geoff Snelson, operating out of offices at The Country Garden Plant Centre in Hadnall. A number of office moves later and Osprey transferred lock, stock and barrel to its current purpose built premises in Wem in 2003. The unit contains good spares storage, full workshop areas to maintain machinery, large offices and a trade counter.

Today, the company is a 'top-five' player within the highly competitive irrigation industry; and market leader in both water management and water recycling activities. Comments Jon Jinks: "In the space of seven years we have grown from a small service company with just two of us servicing a small client base to become a national company with full installation crew which will travel anywhere in Northern Europe."

Jon Jinks maintains that one of the factors in the company's success comes down to logistics. "Wem is centrally situated for our core customer base which is located in Wales, the Midlands and the South West. Quite literally all these places can be reached within a couple of hours or so drive.

"Within Wem there is also a good supply of trades including steel fabricators and galvanizers, which we can call on when needed," he added.

Osprey can be contacted on 01939 236677