American modular builder, Volumetric Building Companies (VBC), has announced plans to expand into the UK.
The Philadelphia-based company was founded in 2009 and specialises in multi-occupancy residential buildings such as hotels and student accommodation, using both steel and timber frames.
The decision to enter the UK market comes after VBC’s acquisition of Polish modular manufacturer, Polcom, earlier this year.
It is expected that some of VBC’s manufacturing for UK projects will be undertaken in Poland, but the company said that it plans to add a UK-based manufacturing presence in the future.
VBC’s UK director, Andy Smith, said: “We now have a dedicated management team in place in the UK and there are plans to have an offsite manufacturing facility for VBC here, in addition to our existing and extensive modular production resources in mainland Europe.”
“Our aim in the next three years is to secure a strong order pipeline in our target sectors in the UK – student accommodation, build-to-rent, affordable housing, defence, custodial, and hotels – and to raise the profile of VBC here, ahead of our expansion into Western Europe. We are already in advanced discussions with a number of hotel groups, private developers, major contractors, and social housing providers.”
He added: “VBC has the resource and proven expertise in the industrialisation of construction, using a design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) approach and data intelligence to drive continuous improvement. We have dominated the hospitality and affordable housing spaces in other countries with our innovative timber volumetric and steel-framed offsite solutions. We also manufacture ‘components’ in-house – such as bathrooms and cabinets for kitchens and bedrooms – giving us complete control and security of supply for fixtures, fittings and finishes from design to manufacture, installation and handover.”
VBC chief executive Vaughan Buckley, said: “VBC is set to become the leading provider of optimised, cost-effective, sustainable solutions for modular buildings around the world. We have tremendous capabilities in the engineering and delivery of advanced modular solutions and buildings which are fully finished and even furnished offsite. Having technology-led production facilities on multiple continents, we are now well placed to drive change, transform construction, and address the housing crisis in the UK, Europe, US, and globally.”
