“Food service requires more attention,”
continues Shahin. “We found there was
a niche for a specialist construction team
who could to focus on restaurant construc-
tion. We started selling our services to Ca-
nadian franchisers, and our first main client
was Extreme Brands (who owns Mucho
Burrito and Extreme Pita).”
From there, “it just snowballed”, and with-
in two years, BUILD IT had 30 projects to
its credit, and has not looked back since.
BUILD IT’s approach to project manage-
ment has not wavered, though the designs
keep getting more intricate. “The industry
is pushing the limits,” says Shahin. “There
are nicer finishes, and customers are really
pushing the envelope with the design, in-
tense millwork, mechanical portions, elec-
trical portions, not only in restaurants, but
retail as well.”
IN-HOUSE TEAM
Before long, Shahin realized he would need
to grow him team and, in a move that em-
braces continued growth and expansion
of their turnkey solutions, established his
own in-house subcontractor team. Says
Shahin, “Our customers are buying a high-
ticket item, so their expectations are high.
They want their timelines met, their bud-
gets met, quality to be top notch, and we
NOVEMBER 2017
H
business elite canada 117
