Category: Company News

O’Brien Contractors are proud to be working with Old Saltleians RFC to develop their new training grounds in Water Orton.

A number of years after the process started our O’Brien Director Tony Mitchell along with the Client and their professional team have succeeded in bringing the project from the table and onto site. Works commenced with a formal ground breaking ceremony on 25 November.

Members of the Old Saltleians RFC and other stakeholders attended the formal ground breaking ceremony on the 25^th November which kicks off the 12 month project to deliver the new facility for the relocation of Old Salts from their old grounds due to HS2.

Utilising our in house civil engineering & construction expertise, along with our extensive sports development experience, we are delivering a turnkey design & build solution for the client.

The scheme includes a brand new club house, associated access roads, car parks along with seven natural turf pitches and associated infrastructure. This will be a fantastic development for the club, the rugby and local communities for generations to come.

The scheme follows on from our hugely successful scheme at Aston Villa training ground, which has been testament to our skills and capabilities when it comes to providing outstanding turnkey sports facilities.

A massive well done to the O’Brien team involved on bringing the project to fruition, some things are definitely worth waiting for!

Some of the O’Brien machines working on the site, came along for the photoshoot as well!

O’Brien Contractors are proud to be working with Sandwell Council on this important and sensitive project.

Sandwell Council Press Release:

Name of New Cemetery Revealed as Work Begins 100 years After First Burial at Neighbouring Cemetery

Work has begun to create a brand-new cemetery and improve open space in Rowley Regis.

O’Brien Contractors has been awarded the RoSPA Gold Medal Award, which is our 8th consecutive RoSPA Gold Award and our 4th Gold Medal, so we are over the moon!

The internationally-renowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, are the longest-running industry awards scheme in the UK and has been awarded to us in recognition of our practices and achievements, in helping staff and clients and stakeholders get home safely at the end of the working day.

The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organisations around the world, recognises achievement in health and safety  management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

Managing Director, Peter O’Brien, said:

“We are delighted to have been recognised with a RoSPA Gold Medal Award again for the 4th year runnning.  As a company we are dedicated to making sure that all of our sites are safe both for everyone working on them and for members of the public, especially in a year dominated by COVID-19, requiring additional safety procedures on site. Receiving this award again is testament to how hard we all work to achieve that.”

O’Brien Contractors is committed to providing safe and healthy working environments for all of our staff.  O’Brien  provides ongoing training, information, supervision and advice so that all of our employees are competent to work safely and are committed to providing the resources necessary to support this provision.

Our industry-leading standards have also been recognised with many other occupational health and safety accreditations ranging from ISO45001 to CHAS, Achilles Building Confidence and RISQS.

O’Brien have welcomed our new engineer Lewis onto the team.

Lewis has started his first week here at O’Brien and is looking forward to integrating into the team and gaining further experience out on our project sites.

We look forward to seeing Lewis progress within the company and gain the additional experience he wants to develop his skills and career.

O’Brien value the skills and expertise of all of our staff, where there are no limits or boundaries in terms of progression within the company and we encourage our staff to take a proactive approach to their job, and put themselves forward for training that will develop their skills and advance their career.​

Lewis gave us some background on how where he trained before joining the company:

“I completed an 18 month civil engineering level 3 and NVQ with Learning Skills Partnership and then progressed on to a 2 and a half year course to complete my HNC in site engineering at the Leeds College of Building.  I completed my training a long side full time work, allowing me to transfer the knowledge from the classroom straight to site.

I’m looking forward to working in a fast paced environment at O’Brien’s, hopefully get onto some large projects as I look to develop my engineering skills further. I felt that I’d get this exposure at O’Brien’s making it the right move for myself.”

Welcome on board Lewis!

O’Brien have completed our upgrade to the CHAS Premium Plus standard, assuring our clients and prospective clients that we have the knowledge, skills experience and training needed to manage a wide range of risks on our projects.

Many clients are now looking to companies, to have the higher levels of accreditation providing reassurance that businesses are run safely and efficiently.  As a responsible and HSEQ conscious company we felt therefore it was essential that we upgraded our accreditation level accordingly.

As well as our CHAS upgrade we have also passed our Achilles Building Confidence external audit this month.

O’Brien are proud to maintain several accreditations and memberships which proves that our company meets or exceeds minimum quality standards.

Accreditations include:

• CHAS
• Achilles Building Confidence
• Constructionline
• FIH (International Federation of Hockey) Certified Field Builder
• ISO9001
• ISO14001
• ISO45001

Memberships

• SAPCA
• British Safety Council
• RoSPA
• RoSPA Gold Award (7 consecutive years)
• Cyber Essentials
• Concrete Society
• Construction Plant Hire Association

Tom has worked for O’Brien’s for 5 years and has been working towards his goal of becoming an accountant, undertaking an exam every 3 months for a period of studies spanning 3 years. Tom undertook evening studies whilst working full time, with the support of the finance team to achieve his goal and is currently in the final stages of documenting his record of experience to submit to CIMA, in order to obtain associate status, having recently passed his final examination.

O’Brien’s are massively proud of Tom’s hard work and his achievement to qualify as an accountant, having managed to achieve first time passes in all of his final year examinations.

Tom is now trying to decide what to do with all that spare time he has, now he has completed his studies!

Tom said of his achievement

“I’m pleased to confirm that I’ve recently received confirmation on the passing of my Strategic Case Study examination and in doing so, have now completed all CIMA examinations.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone at O’Brien Contractors Ltd (past and present) for providing me with a platform, which has allowed me to grow in knowledge of both Accountancy and the Construction Industry.

I’m fairly proud to be the first employee within O’Brien’s 63 year trading history to qualify as an Accountant, with the company more traditionally funding commercial qualifications, such as Quantity Surveying and Engineering degrees.

Finally, I would like to say a massive thank you to those who have personally mentored me throughout my career to date. Your guidance, encouragement and support has not gone unnoticed and I will be forever grateful.”

Well done and Congratulations Tom,  from all of the O’Brien Team!

https://trust.obriencontractors.co.uk/five-supercar-thrill-with-high-speed-passenger-ride-voucher-raffle/

https://trust.obriencontractors.co.uk/chance-to-win-a-holiday-in-gallants-quay-dartmouth-holiday-raffle/

Executive Director Stuart is taking on the epic 1,009 mile cycling challenge over 14 days in June 2021 to raise money for 2 charities that the O’Brien Trust donate to every year.

Stuart chose Molly Ollie’s Wishes and Freddie’s Wish to dedicate as his two charities to support on this very arduous and personal challenge.

The Challenge!

To cycle from Land’s End following the south Cornish coast, riding over the wilds of Dartmoor, and over the Severn Bridge into Wales. Following the River Wye on the Welsh border through the stunning rural landscapes of Hereford and Shropshire.  Heading further north we discover the amazing Forest of Bowland then into the Lake District and cross the border into Scotland. Before long we’re passing through the Trossachs, Loch Lomond and Grampian Mountains to Inverness, then the experience wilderness of the Scottish Highlands en-route to our final destination John O’Groats. Distance 1009 miles, Ascent 55,310ft!

To donate to Stuart’s challenge, please visit the Just Giving link below:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stuart-chamberlain3

Good Luck Stuart!!!

O’Brien are very please to donate £4,000 from our 2019 fundraising to The Cyrenians Society, Coventry, who provide a fantastic service for homeless and vulnerable people.

Established in 1973, Cyrenians provide a comprehensive range of services to homeless and vulnerably housed people in Coventry and Warwickshire. Providing individualised support to promote and enhance the life chances of people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, and empower them to live as independently as possible.

The charity provides accommodation to the homeless people of Coventry and Warwickshire, providing more supported accommodation for single homeless adults than any other single agency in Coventry. They also provide considerable assistance in getting people back on the right path.

Services currently include the Coventry Supported Accommodation Service, Stratford Upon Avon Temporary Accommodation for Single Adults and Young Person’s Alcohol Intervention & Mediation Service. Providing nearly 200 units of accommodation within Coventry and Warwickshire for those in need.

• Over two thirds of the people they see are experiencing mental health challenges and more than one in five are     sleeping rough when we accommodate them.
• Over 90% of people leaving the Cyrenians service report improvements in one or more areas of their life.
• About one in five of their residents obtain paid employment by the time they move on from them, many benefiting from Cyrenians own employment and training opportunities.
• They generate 80% of income from accommodation charges but rely on public support and donations to enable us to continue their work.

A Cyrenian spokesman commented on the donation, “A sincere thank you for selecting us as one of your chosen charities for the foundation, we would be delighted to accept your donation and the amazing sum of money offered. I understand that you are one of our partners at Christmas time, where your organisation creates shoeboxes for the Christmas Appeal – it’s great to see that the relationship has developed into a financial donation.”

http://www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk/about

https://trust.obriencontractors.co.uk/

O’Brien Contractors has been awarded the RoSPA Gold Medal Award, which is our 7th consecutive RoSPA Gold Award and our 3rd Gold Medal Award!

The internationally-renowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, are the longest-running industry awards scheme in the UK and has been awarded to us in recognition of our practices and achievements, in helping staff and clients and stakeholders get home safely at the end of the working day.

The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organisations around the world, recognises achievement in health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

Managing Director, Peter O’Brien, said: We are delighted to have been recognised with a RoSPA Gold Medal Award again for 2020. As a company we are dedicated to making sure that all of our sites are safe both for everyone working on them and for members of the public. Receiving this award again is testament to how hard we all work to achieve that.”

O’Brien Contractors is committed to providing safe and healthy working environments for all of our staff. O’Brien provides ongoing training, information, supervision and advice so that all of our employees are competent to work safely and are committed to providing the resources necessary to support this provision.

Our industry-leading standards have also been recognised with many other occupational health and safety accreditations ranging from ISO45001 to CHAS, Achilles Building Confidence and RISQS.

Our project to build a 150 metre long by up to 11 metre high retaining wall, in readiness for the VLR project in Dudley is progressing at a pace.

On a very exciting note, the borough geologist discovered that the original land surface was from the last Ice Age 15,000 years ago and also that lower surfaces were made up of White bentonite clay (Volcanic ash) layers!

The works are being carried out in preparation for the VLR (very light railway) track to be installed on one side of the wall, whilst a building will be constructed on the other side of the wall.  When we visited the site this week, the works had progressed at quite a pace since our last report.

O’Brien Contractors were awarded the enabling contract on the project in Dudley next to the zoo to construct the retaining wall and carry out associated bulk earthworks.

O’Brien are acting as Principal Contractor on the project which is being carried out over a 35 week programme and our works are due to be completed by the end of May.

Creative Solutions

The client was looking for a contractor who could deliver creative solutions to provide an affordable scheme in line with their programme. The client also required a company with a robust supply chain procurement.

Having traded for over 60 years we have developed our supply chain to provide our business with the service required to meet our commitments to our clients. With long term trading relationships with suppliers of construction materials, aggregates, concrete, muckaway and recycling companies, we are able to select the most suitable option for each specific contract and operation which may not always be based on price, factors such as quality and performance also need to be considered.