C.A. Group was established 9 August 1983 by the four founder members Neville Colgrove, Henry Agnew, Bryan Atkinson and Richard Crane, and was originally known as CA Roofing.  Starting life as a roofing and cladding contractor, the business quickly progressed to introduce manufacturing as well as the design and installation of industrial roofing and cladding systems.

The 1980s was a period of economic depression in south west Durham with major local employers closing down and unemployment increasing to levels unprecedented since the 1930s.  British Rail Engineering Limited at Shildon, Randolph Coke & Chemical Co. Ltd., a long standing major employer in Evenwood, and numerous companies at St Helens Industrial Estate, ceased operations. The inception of CA Roofing therefore came as a welcome development for the area.

Over the years C.A. Group steadily grew as the demand for large industrial warehouses and similar large commercial and manufacturing buildings increased during the late 1980s and into the 1990s.  Originally, the company occupied a small nursery unit on the Copeland Road Industrial Estate at Evenwood, laid out by the Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas (COSIRA). Expansion of the operational area developed accordingly, and the workforce increased. 

In 1984 the first full year showed a modest profit of £48,943. By 2023 turnover had grown to over £120 million and profit to circa £9 million (after taxation).  The number of employees has grown, albeit with fluctuations in response to market conditions. Currently CA Group employs in excess of 240 people across the group, of whom over 160 employees are based from the Copeland Road site, many of whom live in Evenwood and the surrounding area.

In December 2006 the Group became an Employee Beneficiary Trust (EBT), meaning that the business is now owned by, and held in trust on behalf of, its employees. The original founders of the company no longer hold directorships, although Neville Colgrove and Henry Agnew are still actively involved in the business as trustees.

CA Group continues to be engaged in the local community, with the Social Value Committee supporting numerous local community projects and societies as well as local schools. And the business continues to provide meaningful employment opportunities, including apprentice schemes, to offer training and careers for a new generation of County Durham locals.

November 2021: Aerial view of the CA Group site, Evenwood (photo courtesy of Liam Dobinson)