Hartlepool surveying firm announces recruitment drive to support growth
A family-run surveying company has announced plans for further recruitment to support its plans to grow.
Gridmark Survey, based in Castle Eden, was founded in 2013 and had just one employee, and now employs 16 people.
The geospatial surveying company was founded by experienced land surveyor and civil engineer Christopher Mooney and is now headed by Chris and his wife Abbey.
The dad of two from Peterlee said: “When I set up on my own, I didn’t really expect things to grow as they did so to start with, I brought my dad, who was a retired roofer, on board with me as my surveying assistant.
“My career had taken me across the UK, working on major civil engineering and construction projects.
"This included managing surveying teams for large-scale motorway earthworks projects, onshore wind farms, coastal renewable energy developments, mining and deep quarrying.
"Drawing on the experience and professional relationships I built along the way, I decided to establish my business back home in the North East, where momentum began to build a reputation.
“Then, by chance, the surveying company Abbey was working for was bought out and the survey services side of the business she managed was unlikely to be retained. So, we thought that was the right time for us to join forces.
“That’s really when our growth started.”
Gridmark Survey offers a range of services including land and building surveys, civil engineering, earthworks, underground utilities mapping, drone operations and hydrographic surveys.
Abbey said: “The early stages were a strange time really, as I’d no sooner joined the business than I found out I was pregnant.
"Then when our first son was born, we were plunged into lockdown because of the Covid pandemic.
“But due to the nature of the projects we were managing around the region, we were classed as a critical service so we could continue to work, and that meant we also kept growing – although not quite as quickly as we would have done.
“For three years the team stayed the same, but when a couple of really big opportunities came our way, we knew it was time to expand.”
Chris and Abbey are looking to introduce an experienced operations manager into their team next.