Reds10 has acquired a stake in ESL Fabrication Engineers (ESL), the East Yorkshire steel specialist, in a move designed to embed critical steel fabrication within its own supply chain and accelerate its industrialised construction model. The investment, announced in early May 2026, brings the Hull-based fabricator into the recently formed Reds10 Group, which now comprises ten businesses under one umbrella.
The two companies already share a five-year working relationship, and the deal formalises a partnership that both sides describe as a natural next step. ESL’s purpose-built facility at Kimberley Works in Kingston upon Hull sits just 20 miles from Reds10’s advanced manufacturing campus in Driffield, creating what the group describes as a geographically complementary arrangement that cuts transport and logistics costs. ESL will continue to operate under its existing leadership, with co-founder and managing director Gareth Thompson remaining in charge alongside his father Paul Thompson, who founded the business with him in 2010.
Paul Ruddick, chief executive of Reds10 Group, said that integrating steel fabrication in-house adds a critical piece to the group’s strategy. “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,” he said. “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 echoed that sentiment, describing the deal as “a natural next step that will bring clear benefits to both businesses” and saying the company looked forward to “building on the strong working relationship we’ve developed with Reds10 in recent years.”
ESL Fabrication Engineers was founded by Paul and Gareth Thompson in 2010 and has grown steadily, reaching a turnover of £7 million in 2026. The company employs just under 50 people and offers a comprehensive steel fabrication service covering manufacture, installation, repair and maintenance for clients across the UK. Its facility, built in 2018, is CE Certified to EXC 4, and its public-sector client base spans defence, education, justice and health sectors — mirroring many of the same markets that Reds10 serves.
The strategic rationale for the investment lies in the role steel structures play in industrialised construction. Reds10’s model relies on fabricating building components in a controlled factory environment before transporting them to site for assembly. By bringing ESL’s technical design and fabrication capabilities in-house, the group gains direct control over a material that is central to its off-site manufacturing process. The proximity of the two facilities — Driffield and Hull — means that steel sections can be produced and delivered with minimal delay, increasing efficiency and reducing reliance on external suppliers. Ruddick described the move as one that “enhances delivery strength” and supports the group’s next phase of expansion.
Reds10 reported revenue of £144.7 million for the 2024/25 financial year, with an operating margin of 4.8 per cent. The company, which remains debt-free and holds £20 million in cash, has posted four consecutive years of growth, including a 70 per cent year-on-year increase to £143 million in the year to March 2024. Its secured pipeline exceeds £300 million, all from long-term, fully funded public sector schemes, and it forecasts revenue of £160 million for the current financial year.
The group has set out an ambitious plan to grow revenue to £500 million, targeting expansion into the healthcare, affordable housing and temporary accommodation sectors. It is already a contractor on the Defence Infrastructure Organisation alliance for single living accommodation for the armed forces and has developed a prototype modular in-patient hospital bedroom for the NHS’s New Hospital Programme, which it hopes will provide a standardised model for future healthcare facilities.
Reds10 manufactures all its buildings off-site at its Driffield facility, a 50-acre campus that houses five factories totalling 300,000 sq ft of production space. The facility can deliver up to 15,000 units annually, with around 87 per cent of work completed in the factory before final assembly on site. The group has also been investing heavily in data, technology and AI, integrating machine-readable models, automated design optimisation and AI-powered cameras for site documentation. Ruddick has said that the group’s vertically integrated structure — now strengthened by the addition of ESL’s steel fabrication — is key to making AI integration effective, because standardised processes and control over data allow the technology to be deployed across design, manufacturing and delivery.
The investment brings ESL into a group that already includes nine other companies: Reds10 (UK) Limited, Reds10 Modular, Apteriors, Enlight10, K10 Apprenticeships, Frame & Finish, Bowmart, DLH Lifting and Studio FFE. Together, they span industrialised construction, modular hire, interiors, mechanical and electrical work, apprenticeships, fit-out, door manufacturing, lifting and furniture production.
Reds10’s Driffield campus, spanning 50 acres with five factories and 300,000 sq ft of production capacity, can deliver up to 15,000 units annually, with approximately 87 per cent of work completed off-site before final assembly.
