From cleaning commercial buildings and film sets to now recruiting construction management, the expansion and diversification of George Pennell’s Vivo Group is impressive over the last two years. With a turnover of more than £250k in his first year, the only way is up. 

Vivo Recruit, managed by George’s co-director Azz Salam, specialises in supervisory and management roles in the construction industry, which has seen spectacular growth throughout the pandemic. From site managers, quantity surveyors and architectural specialists, the diversity of contacts that Azz brings to the new business is the key to its success. 

“It’s difficult for clients to deal with every aspect of recruitment,” explains Azz, who brings many years’ experience to Vivo Recruit. “We relieve the pressure for our clients, letting them focus on what they do best: construction. We provide temporary and permanent roles across the UK, often working with consultants on projects before they even start construction.”

With the volume of work growing, a new assistant has just joined the company to work on recruitment alongside Azz.  Vivo Recruit can also employ staff directly, and contract them to clients as needed.  “It’s all about relationships and trust,” Azz says.

For George Pennell, growing demand for his contract cleaning business, Vivo Clean, has led to the recent appointment of a new operations manager to develop new contracts and expand the range of cleaning services.

Specialist cleaning of external cladding and gutters on commercial and industrial premises needs a level of training and skill that Vivo Clean now offers. 

“Builders’ cleans on new residential and commercial properties is another growth market,” says George.  We’ve had a very successful year as everything recovers. New business is developing faster than we hoped, and the link between Vivo Clean and Vivo Recruit allows us to trade contacts and expertise, so they both thrive in the group.”

When we first talked to George in July 2020, he was busy providing daily location cleaning services for an Amazon Prime thriller series, The Power, at Bawdsey Manor. He’s moved on!

Based at Masterlord Office Village’s Epsilon House, George Pennell is now focused on powering ambitious expansion plans for the future. “The Epsilon House team made it so easy to arrange new, larger adjoining offices, and the move was seamless. Their support was invaluable.”