Pauline Godwin is used to working hard. Having brought up her children she now splits her time looking after grandchildren, working part-time at the local hospital and helping her husband Brian run their construction and building business, Godwin Construction in the Cotswolds.

Her involvement in the business goes back about three years, but even in that short space of time the business has flourished. Employing five people with a turnover of about £250k-£300K, the company focuses mainly on smaller projects such as extensions, renovations and new builds. And because business is going so well, the couple have started looking at properties for renovation purposes.

Pauline’s main role has seen her get a grip on the administration side of the business. There, Pauline has been a revelation in producing quotes and estimates for the company which has freed up Brian to get on with the work and winning new contracts.

ROOM FOR EXTENSION

As a result, turnover has increased by 50% and the couple are now looking to expand by taking on more people. In addition, following the completion of a recent project that overlooked the Cotswold Water Park in Ashton Keyes, the company won the Category 3 award for a renovation project in the prestigious FMB Master Builder of the Year Awards.

Brian said: “Pauline has been a marvel. She now does the majority of the admin work and without her, the business would really struggle. She’s also got to grips with the building terminology and even picks up on things I sometimes miss. I’d have a hard job doing the work without her.

“I’m not that computer literate so when it comes to producing an estimate I just tell Pauline the dimensions and she does the rest. We can now produce a quote in under an hour, whereas before it would take me all night.”

In addition to producing estimates, Pauline also handles the company’s advertising and building plans and sometimes goes out on site when needed.

Pauline added: “Because Brian wasn’t that comfortable using a computer it made sense for me to get involved. I really do enjoy it and it’s great to see the business doing so well.

“We now use an estimating software package called EstimatorXpress that has enabled us to take real control of the finances. Before we were paying £150 per job to a quantity surveyor so we’ve already saved around £2,000 on 13 recent projects alone.

“It’s nice to be recognised, especially as a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes in order to get the work done for the customers.”

Extract taken from Professional Builder magazine, January 2006