Local firm developing enviable reputation as a tower build specialist

Just over one month into 2022 and local firm, LARS Communications Limited, is enjoying a flying start, as the business cements its reputation as a leading tower build specialist within the telecommunications, defence and meteorological industries. 

Established in 1989 as Lakeland Aerial Rigging Services, the company originally focused their attentions on providing rigging support services to the communications industry. However, over the course of the last thirty years or so, the company has made giant strides, developing an enviable reputation for fabricating and installing bespoke infrastructure solutions across the UK for a number of important customers.

Despite the challenges so many companies have faced since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, last year proved to be a very busy one for LARS. Highlights included the award of a number of contracts by leading UK organisations, including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), for whom they completed the design, fabrication and installation of two radar towers. The towers, located at Remote Radar Head Brizlee Wood and RRH Buchan, are part of a vitally important upgrades to UK air defence systems.

LARS also won an exciting contract to design, manufacture, supply and install a number of radar towers at sites across the UK. The contract was awarded to LARS following their submission of a bespoke design which could be developed to suit various radar tower applications.

The design has already been applied to a 30-metre radar tower in Cambridge and two 20-metre radar towers in Hampshire and Oxfordshire respectively. More recently, they have completed the installation of a 10m version of the radar tower in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Further applications are taking place this year in North Yorkshire, Peterborough and Aberporth, Wales.

Julian Cooper, business development manager at LARS Communications, is looking forward to another busy year; “Like all businesses across the world, 2019 was a tricky year to navigate, but we’ve dug in and continued to do what we’re good at, and the efforts are paying off.

“Last year was possibly our busiest to date, winning a number of high-profile contracts. And while we are thrilled to be one of the go-to companies for specialist tower builds, we are still extremely busy in a number of other areas such as rigging, tower strengthening and decommissioning.”

So what does 2022 hold? Already, the company is actively recruiting rigging teams and project managers following further contract wins, wherever possible recruiting from the local area. The company is also about to start a two-year rigging contract, another tower build contract for the FCDO and is currently waiting on the outcome of several recent tenders.

Adds Mr Cooper: “We are thrilled with the fantastic end to 2021 and the start we’ve made to 2022, but we will not be resting on our laurels. Our commitment to quality is reflected in the year-on-year renewal of our various industry accreditations, including ISO, RISQS and JOSCAR, accreditations which demonstrate to our customers that we have the very best systems in place.

“2021 was good. But we want 2022 to be even better. And we’ve certainly got the team in place to make that happen.”