Health and safety expert James builds on his experience

James Staines (left) and Fin Gregory (front centre) with Waymark directors Jason Hylton-Jones (second left), David Brophy (second right) and Paul Lofthouse (right)

James, from South Shields, has launched company Project Control Tools with business partner Fin Gregory.

The pair have joined forces with regional software house Waymark to launch a new product – StoresMate – they believe will revolutionise the construction industry.

StoresMate is designed to save costs and increase efficiencies around tool management on construction projects.

“On large sites in particular there can be hundreds of pieces of equipment being used – either on hire or owned,” said James.

“This equipment can very often be on a long-term lease and it is notoriously difficult to keep track of every piece of kit in use, or in storage.

“StoresMate will enable a site team to identify exactly where any given tool is at any given moment.”

Paul Lofthouse, commercial director at Waymark, explained: “We first got involved with the guys at Project Control Tools last year when they came to us with the idea of StoresMate.

“They have some great ideas, and we were intrigued and impressed by StoresMate.

“We’ve been in the development stage since, with three members of the Waymark team working on a StoresMate mobile and Android app, and also a desktop-based management system for the software.

“Basically, the StoresMate app will give site teams the ability to scan and track every tool or piece of equipment – whatever the shape or size – used on-site.

“Traditionally, any sort of site inventory has been purely paper-based, but once scanned, StoresMate can track anything being used on site, taking the human element out of the equation.”

“Our background is in the construction sector,” said Fin Gregory.

“We know what a difference StoresMate will make on construction sites, and its scaleable from small sites to large-scale projects.”

James and Fin met while working on the NEXUS infrastructure project being delivered by TXM Rail.

“Because of our backgrounds we know the challenges project teams face especially knowing and controlling where everything is – be it on-site, or in the stores,” said James.

“StoresMate will make their lives considerably easier and save companies time and resources.”