Lisburn-based OKTO Technologies has invested £1.2m in new facilities and the recruitment of 20 new project and process managers, designers, programmers and technicians.
OKTO specialises in the worldwide development and delivery of ‘smart building technologies’ in hotels, commercial offices and multi-million pound residential properties.
The company’s latest investment is part of its plans to “be the world’s leading ‘Smart Buildings Integrator’”, with the aim of generating £70m in annual turnover and trebling its workforce by 2025.
The firm has said its new design studio and ‘Mirror-Build’ laboratory “offer a UK-first in property development, enabling the team to pre-assemble and meticulously test each project under factory conditions in Lisburn, before being transported and installed in its final destination.”
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The Mirror-Build facility is also claimed to deliver time savings of up to 75% at the pivotal on-site commissioning period.
It is described by OKTO Technologies’ founder and managing director, Philip Dowds as a key component of the company’s client delivery process: “In the complex and multi-layered world of high-end property development, the benefits of OKTO’s Mirror-Build lab are fully realised at commissioning stage when snags, bugs and mistakes are most costly – both financially and in terms of time. Nothing is left to ‘sort out on site’. With every hour spent in the Mirror Build lab equating to four hours saved on site, the efficiencies are significant.”
Each bespoke system is built in Lisburn and tested through the firm’s ‘8 Phase Test Regime’ quality assurance process. It is then delivered to site when it is ‘snapped’ together in “just a quarter of the time taken for a traditional install.”
The business recently gained four major contracts worth in excess of £10.5million, to develop and deliver its bespoke ‘smart building technologies’ to residential developments currently under construction in London’s West End. The company is also currently exploring new opportunities on an international basis.
