COMPLETING more than 1,000 projects in more than 26 countries has seen Paragon Creative grow its global reputation for designing and building attractions.
Part of the Elvington-based Paragon Entertainments group, the firm traces its history back over 25 years when co founder Colin Pyrah helped create the Jorvik Viking Centre in York.
Over the years the business has grown to offer a range of services to the museum, heritage, science centre, theme park, leisure and retail sectors, with work including design development, theming, scenery and prop making, hands on interactives, model making, joinery, metalwork, electronics and graphics.
Recent projects include Titanic Belfast, All About Me, at Eureka, and the Wallace & Gromit dark ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Closer to home the 130 strong team at Paragon Creative, which is entering Large Business of the Year and Dare to Export, have worked on a number of local projects including York’s Chocolate Story and the Orb at York Minster.
Paragon sales and marketing manager Jonathan Bonner, said: “The museum and attractions sectors are not your typical industries.
“The extreme variety means that in any given week we can be working on completely different things – scenery for a scary theme park attraction in one department, and hands on interactives for a science centre in another.”
“No two projects are the same.”
A major part of Paragon’s growth has been down to building relationships with museums and attractions all over the word.
Working with sister company TVAC, which provides consultancy services, and drawing on its knowledge of foreign markets, Paragon has also built relationships with UKTI to promote its abilities around the world, and grow a client list covering Europe, The Middle East, Africa and even the Caribbean.
Notable recent projects abroad include the Children’s Civilisation and Creativity Museum in Cairo, The Istanbul Aquarium, The Gallipoli Experience, and most recently, working as the main design development and fit-out contractor at the newly redeveloped Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
In 2013, 69 per cent of the group’s work was exported, up from 20 per cent in 2012. representing an overall increase of £5.7million.
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