Meet the two local firms funding our reporting on Ipswich's good causes

Barnes Construction and Axter sit on opposite ends of the same industry. Barnes, headquartered at Ransomes Europark, has spent nearly five decades delivering innovative, collaborative and sustainable construction projects across the East of England. Axter, a flat roofing design and specification practice based at Fox's Marina, work across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland designing multifunctional roofs across all development sectors, with a reputation for turning rooftops into efficient, waterproof, biodiverse, energy-generating spaces.

It is this complementary pairing – one company building communities from the ground up, the other from the roof down – that has brought them together as Ipswich.co.uk's first community impact partners, funding a year of coverage dedicated to the charities, nonprofits and community groups making the town better.

"We are deeply rooted in Ipswich, with our head office situated on Ransomes Europark and many of our staff – including local management trainee apprentices – and supply chain are from the town," said Daniel Mackenzie, Associate Divisional Director at Barnes Construction. "We are a non-adversarial, forward-thinking business that regularly invests in the town through our support of small local charities and community groups."

For Axter, the town (and county) is central to its identity, too. "We waterproof differently, are a certified BCorporation, and a Suffolk First business, meaning where we operate really matters. We didn't want to buy advertising space. We wanted to support journalism that tells the real stories of the charities and community groups doing brilliant work across Suffolk, often without recognition. That felt like a much more meaningful use of our support, because when Ipswich and Suffolk thrives, our business thrives with it," said Managing Director Phillip Wilcox-Moore.

Roots that run deep

Barnes Construction began life at New Cut West in 1978 – a year, Mackenzie notes, "poignant for those who follow the football club." Nearly fifty years on, the company delivers more than £100 million of construction projects annually across the East of England, and says more than 40 per cent of its current staff came through its management trainee scheme, with several board members among their number.

"Ipswich is synonymous with our business," Mackenzie said. "Our staff work, socialise and contribute to the communities we build, and we are proud to support many Ipswich-based charities, often focusing on spreading our donations to cover smaller charities doing some hugely important work in our town."

Axter's deep roots in Ipswich run alongside a rapidly growing sustainability, economic development, and people-first agenda. The company has consecutively retained a prestigious Gold Award at the Best Employers Eastern Region Awards, won the inaugural Sustainability Strategy Award at the 2025 East Anglia Clean & Green Awards, has been accredited as a Gold Carbon Literate Organisation, and was named Regional Partner of Ipswich Town FC in March this year.

"We are proud to say that Ipswich is home. It’s been our home for nearly half a century. Yes, we are part of a global waterproofing and insulation systems manufacturer, but our team and our UK operations at Fox's Marina are firmly rooted here in Ipswich, Suffolk. We want to see the town thrive, and we think businesses like ours have a responsibility to help make that happen, not just talk about it," Phillip Wilcox-Moore said.

More than construction and flat roofing

Both companies point to a track record of community investment that extends beyond the buildings they build.

Barnes counts St Elizabeth's Hospice among its most personal causes – the charity cared for the company's founder, David Barnes, in his later years, and the firm has since been selected to build the hospice's new site in Gorleston. Mackenzie also highlighted the company's work with FIND Ipswich, for whom it helped construct a food storage hub, staff volunteering days with Fareshare, and ongoing support for the Lighthouse Women's Aid, Suffolk Mind, Home-Start Suffolk, IHAG, and youth charity 4YP, where Barnes associate Tony Garnham serves as a trustee.

"Charities and not-for-profit organisations face an uphill battle every year to sustain their activities," Mackenzie said. "As people and businesses struggle with the cost of living, smaller charities can often be marginalised further. We have seen first-hand the impact of amazing charities on young people in the town."

Axter's community commitments run through a similar mix of climate and community social value causes. The company partners with six charities – Rewilding Britain, Wild East (Wild Kingdom), the Green Light Trust and Suffolk Wildlife Trust on climate, and Suffolk Mind, Emmaus Suffolk, the Suffolk Community Foundation and the Ipswich Town Foundation on community work – and it donates tens of thousands of pounds to local causes every year. In the past year, a £16,500 donation to Suffolk Mind has enabled the charity to extend its outreach to four primary schools and one high school on the Shotley Peninsula – an area Suffolk Mind had identified as previously lacking support and training.

In total, more than 1,000 children and young people have been supported alongside 92 staff. "As a certified B Corp with a Suffolk First policy, We care deeply about our local community and supporting those in need," Phillip Wilcox-Moore said at the time. "We've enjoyed a great relationship with Suffolk Mind for many years now – and as soon as we heard they had identified the peninsula as an area which had previously lacked support and training, we knew we had to do our bit to fix it."

Partnerships with purpose over advertising

Ipswich.co.uk does not sell advertising or operate behind a paywall. Our journalism is funded through reader memberships and partnerships with local businesses.

Mackenzie said Barnes was drawn to the publication's tone as much as its reach. "We were drawn to the enthusiasm and positivity of its publications, and passion for the town, which is perhaps at odds with traditional journalism," he said. "Too often, stories are heard through the prism of criticism or negativity, or increasingly to shock rather than provide depth and context. We want to be part of something that supports and shines a positive light on our town."

He added that Barnes already commits one per cent of its group profit to charity each year, and had previously run a Charity of the Year scheme before deciding that "sharing our fundraising efforts, donations and project-based social value was a much more impactful way of supporting more organisations."

Under the partnership, neither company has any influence over editorial content. We tell the reader how much it costs us to produce each article, and each article carries an ad for Barnes, Axter, and one other randomly selected partner. Ipswich.co.uk's editorial team retains full independence over what is covered and how.

What happens next

From today, Ipswich.co.uk will write to every nonprofit leader in its contact book to explain the partnership and invite them to share stories we should be covering.

The aim is straightforward: more space, and more depth, for the charities and community groups that often struggle to get heard.

Ipswich.co.uk reaches more than 100,000 people across the town each month through its website, email newsletters and social channels. Last year, the site published more than 150 articles covering local charities and community groups, read by tens of thousands of people. The partnership is designed to sustain and build on that over the next 12 months.

Looking ahead, Mackenzie said Barnes hoped the partnership would help the town punch above its weight nationally, pointing to Ipswich's City of Culture 2029 bid and the football club's continued rise. "We hope our business can leverage the great coverage of Ipswich.co.uk to deliver even more meaningful impact to the communities of Ipswich," he said. "For our business, as we move towards our 50th year of trading, we also hope to remain at the forefront of delivering more fantastic projects with our brilliant supply chain, as well as maximising the social value impact in and around the town as we go."

"Ipswich is a town built on industry, and local businesses are its bedrock. We have a collective responsibility to champion our great town and its people, to support employment, growth and opportunity."

The bottom line

Barnes Construction and Axter approach Ipswich from different directions – one from the ground, one from the roof – but both have chosen to back the same thing: a year of coverage for the charities and community groups that make the town what it is. For two businesses already deeply invested in Suffolk's causes, it is a natural extension of work they were doing anyway, now given a wider audience.

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