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About us

We are proud of our people, our family heritage and the work we deliver.

With a sharp focus on sustainable growth over the last 65 years, we’ve been able to invest in the latest technology and broaden our offering while employing, retaining, and developing the best talent in the industry. This has allowed us to confidently deliver total project solutions across Civil Engineering, Construction and Sports projects in the Midlands and beyond.

We have the agility of a fast-moving business and the commercial strength of a longstanding construction company, which allows us to put our clients at the heart of everything we do.

We’re reliant on nobody but ourselves – from our in-house team of dynamic thinkers, to the technologies we use and equipment we own, and our dedicated supply chain partners.

For us it’s personal. We were founded by Tom O’Brien in 1958, and now have a diverse directorial board, headed up by Peter O’Brien. With turnover in the region of £30 million, and contract values reaching more than £15 million, O’Brien Contractors has gone from strength to strength.

People-led. Tech-driven. Committed to our clients.

Our Vision

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Accreditations

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Awards

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Testimonials

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Directors Statement

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Careers

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Meet the Team

Meet the team

Why us?

CONFIDENT - in our ability to deliver excellence, in our expertise and in our advice

COMMITTED - to undertaking our projects safely and to the highest quality

CONSISTENT - in our approach, our team, and our ability to deliver every time

TRUSTED - with total project solutions; with handling complex schemes and to get it right

RESPONSIBLE - with our practices, ESG commitments and paying it forward.

History of O’Brien Contractors

1940s to 1950s

Tom O’Brien arrived in England in the 1940s in pursuit of an invite from Cubbington farmer Tom Ellis to work on his farm. After occupying this role for a short period, Tom became a sole trader, pulling sugar beet and undertaking a number of other jobs for farms in the area. From there, Tom moved into driveway construction, tarmacking and concreting for local farmers and residential customers in what was to become the origins of O’Brien Contractors Limited.

1960s

Following his work in driveway construction, Tom O’Brien set up T O’Brien Contractor (as it was originally named) and later formed a relationship with the founder and owner of Thwaite’s Dumpers, Basil Thwaites, in the early 1960s.

Initially commissioned to lay road networks through Basil’s estates, T O’Brien Contractor had installed seven miles of estate roads by the late 1970s, largely through manual labour and the use of experimental machinery developed by Thwaites.

It was around this time that Tom also began supplying and laying turf for private households, buying the rights to turf from the fields of local farmers before selling it on.

1970s

After successfully starting up the business in the previous decade, Tom O’Brien was joined by his son Peter in the 1970s, a trained mechanic who had previously worked for Savills in Stratford.

Working as business partners, the pair were equipped with a tractor, complete with a McConnell excavator linked to the rear, a Land Rover and three-wheeled roller – a primitive precursor to the technology O’Brien Contractors uses today.

In 1978, the business invested in its first excavator, a six-year-old JCB model costing £5,000. It proved a smart purchase, helping the business to hit a £30k turnover by the end of the decade.

1980s

With the business growing, Tom’s second son Mick O’Brien, joined the company in 1982, four years prior to the company’s investment in its first tracked excavator – a five-year-old Caterpillar EC 210.

By this point, the company’s workload was evolving quickly, with its service offering expanding into groundworks on a learn-as-you-go basis. Contracts included finishing works on a 25 house development in Kenilworth and from there, broadened out into complete groundwork packages for three to four houses, followed by multiple sites of this size.

In 1983, the business secured its very first office, a palatial, two-metre by three-and-a-half-metre shed that housed the company’s first office staff and business support employee, Margaret Arrowsmith, a previous school secretary who stayed with O’Brien Contractors for 20 years.

1990s

By 1990, the company had taken off, achieving its first £1 million contract for a groundworks project on a 98-house development site with Turriff Construction, requiring 20 people to operate three project sites at time.

In 1995, O’Brien Contractors Limited became a registered company, the same year its first computer was purchased and operated by the then 70-year-old secretary, Margaret.

In this decade, turnover rose at pace, reaching £3.2 million annually in tandem with the growth of machine automation. At this point, O’Brien Contractors formed a pioneering relationship with Spectra Precision, a world-exclusive developer of geospatial technology.

Together, O’Brien Contractors and Spectra Precision tested and established machine automation systems on bulldozers, with the former becoming the first European company to trial this system.

2000 to 2012

At the turn of the century, O’Brien Contractors was an established earthworks and groundworks contractor, already backed by a trusted reputation. Such was the company’s credibility that it went on to secure a £2.5 million contract with Sir Robert McAlpine for Russell’s Hospital in Dudley. By 2002, O’Brien Contractors turnover had reached £4.8 million.

With many years of developing machine automation under its belt, the company decided to apply this experience in high tolerance stone levelling to warehouse concrete flooring, working to tolerances of +0mm and -3mm to achieve the most precise depth of installed concrete possible.

This service extension was swiftly followed by another in the creation of O’Brien Sports Division, a segment dedicated to installing a myriad of sports pitches across the UK.

In 2012, turnover had hit £12 million and in a company first, two individuals outside of the family were appointed to the board of directors. These appointments included Stuart Chamberlain, now an executive director, and introduced new specialisms to the board.

2012 to 2019

Between 2012 and 2017, the company turnover grew exponentially, rising to £35 million per annum. Numerous multimillion pound contracts were under works concurrently, including the £11.5 million Project Dove and £35 million worth of projects for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

The latter work was the start of a seven-year relationship with JLR that has remained steadfast to this day.

In 2017, O’Brien Contractors diversified its business model once more, moving from a subcontracting entity to incorporate main contracting and construction.

2020

By the dawn of the new decade, O’Brien Contractors had fortified its team with strategic appointments including three new directors, promoted from their roles within the workforce, including Tony Mitchell, and Wayne Inskip. Tom O’Brien, representing the third generation of O’Brien family directors, was among them.

Having come up through the ranks, Tom reflects both the company’s new talent and skills and the future of a family-led business that has continued to thrive for over sixty years.

1940s to 1950s

Tom O’Brien arrived in England in the 1940s in pursuit of an invite from Cubbington farmer Tom Ellis to work on his farm. After occupying this role for a short period, Tom became a sole trader, pulling sugar beet and undertaking a number of other jobs for farms in the area. From there, Tom moved into driveway construction, tarmacking and concreting for local farmers and residential customers in what was to become the origins of O’Brien Contractors Limited.

1960s

Following his work in driveway construction, Tom O’Brien set up T O’Brien Contractor (as it was originally named) and later formed a relationship with the founder and owner of Thwaite’s Dumpers, Basil Thwaites, in the early 1960s.

Initially commissioned to lay road networks through Basil’s estates, T O’Brien Contractor had installed seven miles of estate roads by the late 1970s, largely through manual labour and the use of experimental machinery developed by Thwaites.

It was around this time that Tom also began supplying and laying turf for private households, buying the rights to turf from the fields of local farmers before selling it on.

1970s

After successfully starting up the business in the previous decade, Tom O’Brien was joined by his son Peter in the 1970s, a trained mechanic who had previously worked for Savills in Stratford.

Working as business partners, the pair were equipped with a tractor, complete with a McConnell excavator linked to the rear, a Land Rover and three-wheeled roller – a primitive precursor to the technology O’Brien Contractors uses today.

In 1978, the business invested in its first excavator, a six-year-old JCB model costing £5,000. It proved a smart purchase, helping the business to hit a £30k turnover by the end of the decade.

1980s

With the business growing, Tom’s second son Mick O’Brien, joined the company in 1982, four years prior to the company’s investment in its first tracked excavator – a five-year-old Caterpillar EC 210.

By this point, the company’s workload was evolving quickly, with its service offering expanding into groundworks on a learn-as-you-go basis. Contracts included finishing works on a 25 house development in Kenilworth and from there, broadened out into complete groundwork packages for three to four houses, followed by multiple sites of this size.

In 1983, the business secured its very first office, a palatial, two-metre by three-and-a-half-metre shed that housed the company’s first office staff and business support employee, Margaret Arrowsmith, a previous school secretary who stayed with O’Brien Contractors for 20 years.

1990s

By 1990, the company had taken off, achieving its first £1 million contract for a groundworks project on a 98-house development site with Turriff Construction, requiring 20 people to operate three project sites at time.

In 1995, O’Brien Contractors Limited became a registered company, the same year its first computer was purchased and operated by the then 70-year-old secretary, Margaret.

In this decade, turnover rose at pace, reaching £3.2 million annually in tandem with the growth of machine automation. At this point, O’Brien Contractors formed a pioneering relationship with Spectra Precision, a world-exclusive developer of geospatial technology.

Together, O’Brien Contractors and Spectra Precision tested and established machine automation systems on bulldozers, with the former becoming the first European company to trial this system.

2000 to 2012

At the turn of the century, O’Brien Contractors was an established earthworks and groundworks contractor, already backed by a trusted reputation. Such was the company’s credibility that it went on to secure a £2.5 million contract with Sir Robert McAlpine for Russell’s Hospital in Dudley. By 2002, O’Brien Contractors turnover had reached £4.8 million.

With many years of developing machine automation under its belt, the company decided to apply this experience in high tolerance stone levelling to warehouse concrete flooring, working to tolerances of +0mm and -3mm to achieve the most precise depth of installed concrete possible.

This service extension was swiftly followed by another in the creation of O’Brien Sports Division, a segment dedicated to installing a myriad of sports pitches across the UK.

In 2012, turnover had hit £12 million and in a company first, two individuals outside of the family were appointed to the board of directors. These appointments included Stuart Chamberlain, now an executive director, and introduced new specialisms to the board.

2012 to 2019

Between 2012 and 2017, the company turnover grew exponentially, rising to £35 million per annum. Numerous multimillion pound contracts were under works concurrently, including the £11.5 million Project Dove and £35 million worth of projects for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

The latter work was the start of a seven-year relationship with JLR that has remained steadfast to this day.

In 2017, O’Brien Contractors diversified its business model once more, moving from a subcontracting entity to incorporate main contracting and construction.

2020

By the dawn of the new decade, O’Brien Contractors had fortified its team with strategic appointments including three new directors, promoted from their roles within the workforce, including Tony Mitchell, and Wayne Inskip. Tom O’Brien, representing the third generation of O’Brien family directors, was among them.

Having come up through the ranks, Tom reflects both the company’s new talent and skills and the future of a family-led business that has continued to thrive for over sixty years.

Contact the team