Reds10 Group Announces Strategic Investment in Steel Fabrication Specialist ESL
Reds10 Group has completed a strategic investment in steel fabrication specialist ESL Fabrication Engineers (ESL). The partnership strengthens Reds10’s vertically integrated, industrialised construction model by bringing critical steel fabrication in-house, enhancing delivery strength and support the business’s next phase of growth.
Founded in 2010 by father and son Paul and Gareth Thompson, ESL specialises in the comprehensive delivery of steel fabrication across the UK, from manufacture and installation to repair and maintenance works. The business has grown steadily since its inception, growing its turnover to £7 million in 2026, becoming one of the fastest growing engineering companies in East Yorkshire. The business now employs just under 50 people from its purpose-built factory facility in Kingston upon Hull.
ESL will become part of the recently established Reds10 Group, alongside Reds10 and its eight sister companies. The creation of Reds10 Group brings a family of businesses together under one roof to further drive the wholesale industrialisation of design, production and construction, with AI integrated at every stage.
ESL has a well-established relationship with Reds10, having worked together for the last five years to deliver high-quality sustainable buildings for the public sector, with a particular focus on defence, education, justice and health. With steel structures being an integral part of industrialised construction, ESL’s specialist technical design capabilities will enhance Reds10’s offering to maximise efficiencies in-house.
The companies’ factory locations are geographically complementary, with Reds10 manufacturing off site in Driffield, East Yorkshire, and ESL’s purpose built facility just 20 miles away in Kingston upon Hull.
Speaking of the partnership, Paul Ruddick, chief executive of Reds10 Group, said: “Having worked with ESL for several years, we’ve seen first hand the consistent quality of their service and their ambition for excellence and growth, values that closely align with our own. Bringing steel fabrication into the Reds10 Group adds a critical piece of the jigsaw as we launch our next phase of strategic growth to exploit advancing technologies, while integrating AI at every level of the business.”
Gareth Thompson, co-founder and managing director of ESL said: “We’ve come a long way since ESL’s inception in 2010 and our partnership with Reds10 feels like a natural next step that will bring clear benefits to both businesses. This marks an exciting next phase in our evolution, and we look forward to building on the strong working relationship we’ve developed with Reds10 in recent years and maximising the opportunities ahead.”
The partnership comes after Reds10 reported robust financial results for the 2024/25, with revenue of £144.7m and an industry-leading operating margin of 4.8%. Reds10 has set out an ambitious plan to grow its revenue to £500m and is targeting an expansion into the healthcare sector, as well as the affordable housing and temporary accommodation sectors, providing high quality sustainable homes for local authorities to help them tackle the housing crisis in their communities.
Reds10 manufactures all its buildings off-site at its advanced construction facility in Driffield, East Yorkshire, where it has five factories totalling 300,000 sq ft. By investing in its own workforce, the company is able to deliver sustainable and innovative buildings in modern manufacturing facilities which are then transported and assembled on site to the most exacting standards.
