CONSTRUCTION
G.E.WHITE
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FOUNDED ON TRUST Entrepreneur and farmer Bill Bridges knows what’s important when it comes to getting projects completed. “It’s about trust,” he explained. “You need to be able to trust the people you ask to do things to get on and do them.” That trust has underpinned the relationship that Bill has built up with steel framed building specialists G E White & Sons over the past two years as he has transformed Mynthurst Farm, near Leigh in Surrey. Bill, who began farming back in 1984, when in his forties, had a vision for the 800-acre farm that didn’t reflect the old and careworn buildings that were there when he moved in. He brought in brothers Gary and Jason with the intention of ‘patching up’ an existing cattle shed, but soon agreed that it really needed replacing. The G E White & Sons team got to work and did such a good job of replacing the old double span building with a bright and airy single span construction that Bill invited them back to tackle the next project. And the next. And the next… There is no doubt he will ask the team back in the future, too. “I wouldn’t have anybody else,” he confirmed. “Having someone you can trust working on the things that are important to your business is worth a heck of a lot.” Bill, whose “brilliant” daughter Billie runs the farm on a day-to-day basis, grows barley and oats on 250 acres at Mynthurst Farm as well as keeping 270 head of beef cattle and around 300 sheep. With other business interests also needing his attention, he needed a reliable company that would get on with the building work while he carried on with the day job. After they finished the 45m by 20m cattle shed, complete with an extra two metre cantilever to either side, Bill asked G E White & Sons to build a new grain store, an impressive 50m by 30m structure, six metres to the eaves and with a power floated concrete floor from Essex-based specialists Steyson Concrete Floors. The next project was to turn an unwanted silage clamp into a straw shed, something the G E White & Sons team achieved by adding a new framework and roof onto the existing walls, but it was the next
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challenge, renovating a sheep shed, that saw Gary and Jason really pull out the stops. The original plan was simply to replace the old roof lights in the building, but when the brothers investigated, they realised that the asbestos roofing sheets were far beyond their ‘sell by’ dates. “I decided we would have to refurbish the whole shed, including new Yorkshire boarding, doors and rainwater goods, but I needed it done in a fortnight
so that I could get the sheep back indoors,” recalled Bill. It was a challenge, but not one that troubled Gary and Jason, who met the deadline in good time. The ten-strong G E White & Sons team, which also features dad Geoff, now 76 and retired but still working alongside his sons most days, also builds equestrian and commercial facilities and has built up a strong reputation across Kent, Surrey and Sussex. >>
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WWW.SOUTHEASTFARMER.NET | JUNE 2022
