Category: News

We have been recognised for our commitment to sustainability with a coveted Bronze award at the International Green Apple Awards for the Built Environment and Architectural Heritage 2016. This is the second time in 3 years we have received this recognition.

Lining up against some much larger companies, including Kier Construction, Carillion/Morgan Sindall JV and Skanska, the prestigious title was awarded for, “clearly demonstrating a drive towards sustainable development.”

The judges also singled out our management for demonstrating incredible foresight by “choosing to invest and diversify the business during the recession while starting to feel the pinch, resulting in strong financial results during the past six years.”

This enabled us to invest in key areas of the business, including training and apprentices, providing young people with a career path in construction and upskilling current employees by providing them with 3.78 training days on average; and £4.4m in plant and equipment, to push environmental and efficiency savings across projects.

Other areas where we were commended, include our continual investment in management systems audited and validated to ISO14001, ISO9001, OHSAS18001 and Achilles BuildingConfidence (5-star rating) accreditation, which ensures we deliver high standards of quality and compliance in health and safety and the environment.

We achieved this while improving their environmental performance with such measures as:

• Going paperless and greening our fleet.
• Sponsoring a wealth of community support initiatives, including: ILEAP, Warwickshire Road Safety, British Blind for Sport, and The Alzheimer’s Society.
• Investing £220k in GPS technology and developing an earthworks modelling team that prevented 75,000m3 of material from going to landfill.

Peter O’Brien, Managing Director at O’Brien Contractors, said: “This award highlights the benefits we bring to the region and our customers by implementing best practices benchmarked against environmental, quality and health and safety performance. We are thrilled our commitment to sustainable development has been recognised with an award.”

We have scooped our third RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Gold award.

The RoSPA Awards is celebrating 60 years of presenting highly-regarded and sought after accolades to businesses and organisations which have shown commitment to accident and ill-health prevention.

The prestigious title is awarded for demonstrating overarching occupational health and safety management, including: strategic vision, risk assessment, workforce involvement and training.

Julia Small, RoSPA’s head of awards and events, said: “To win an award at such a highly-regarded event as the RoSPA Awards is a great achievement for O’Brien Contractors. It recognises their commitment to maintaining an excellent health and safety record and raises the bar for other organisations to aspire to. We offer them our congratulations.”

The company, based in Leamington Spa, achieved gold in recognition of the commitment to continuous improvement in protecting its staff, subcontractors and the local public, resulting in:

• Staff receiving an average of 3.78 training days – mainly for health and safety
• 100% of site operatives completing a CSCS safety course and holding a CSCS card
• 80% of site operatives qualified to NVQ 2+ standard

However, the greatest success came from across the eight high profile schemes secured last year, including: New Assay Office, Longbridge Town Centre Phase II, Number One City Locks, New Cross Hospital, Aston Student Villages, Burton Hockey Club, i54 Manufacturing Facility and Lyons Park, all achieving zero accidents spanning 211,786 man hours.

Peter O’Brien, Managing Director, O’Brien Contractors, said: “Winning three straight Gold awards is a real achievement and recognises the commitment and effort applied by our team to ensure high standards are maintained across all of our sites.”

World Cup winner and British and Irish Lions legend Lawrence Dallaglio, OBE, cut the first turf and officially marked the beginning of construction work on Warden Park Academy’s full size 3G multi-use sports pitch last week.

The installation is part of a continual investment by the academy to build on its 60 years of District, County and national reputation for sporting excellence.

The new playing surface is being constructed in collaboration with Notts Sports, leading specialist in the design, advice and supply of artificial turf for multi-sports and playgrounds.

O’Brien will install a 6,052m2 3G FIFA 1 star compliant surface, underground perimeter and lateral drains, granular unbound base, an airlastic loadbearing geotextile and shockpad, kerb edgings, perimeter fencing and floodlighting.

Steve Hillman, General Manager, O’Brien Sports, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have secured the project. The new pitch will provide students and the local community with the opportunity to participate in frequent sports activities; building confidence, self-esteem, academic excellence, character building, but also give them a platform to realise their sporting goals and ambitions.”

O’Brien Sports delivers natural sports pitches, such as those used for rugby, football and cricket. It also supplies synthetic and Multi Use Games Area pitches, with surfaces suitable for just about every sport and user – from professional sports teams to schools, sports clubs and communities.

Recent projects include a synthetic grass hockey pitch for Burton Hockey Club and a 3G synthetic grass football pitch – constructed to meet FIFA requirements – for Worthing Football Club.

We have been chosen to work on the University of Birmingham’s campus expansion plans.

The two projects are part of a wider drive by the University to invest close to £500 million, over a five year period, to enhance the student experience on its Edgbaston campus.

Appointed as principal contractor by the University, we have been selected to work on a design and build contract for the construction of an 800m footpath/cycle way from the main campus to the main student residence village, the Vale, along with associated section 278 works and soft landscaping.

The second scheme will see us install hard and soft landscaping around the prestigious new library.

The contracts build on our tradition of supporting the top universities across the Midlands with their major campus upgrades, following 8 years working with Aston University to develop their Student Villages complex and assisting Birmingham City University’s relocation to Eastside.

Stuart Chamberlain, Director, said: “University of Birmingham is Internationally acclaimed with a reputation spanning over 100 years. We are absolutely delighted to be chosen to work on their campus redevelopment – one of the most high profile schemes taking place in Birmingham.”

Established in 1958, O’Brien Contractors is a Midlands-based provider of civil engineering, design and build and groundworks services, as well as turnkey sports pitch solutions.

Key projects and customers include the Nestlé factory with John Sisk; the Longbridge Marks & Spencer store with Morgan Sindall; and the Thunderbird 2 retail distribution centre with Sir Robert McAlpine.

Stuart Chamberlain added: “85% of our projects now come from repeat business and recommendations, but we know that it’s not enough to be satisfied with where we currently are. So we continually improve by developing our people and processes, and challenge ourselves to constantly re-evaluate our core competencies. By doing this we ensure that we understand our clients’ needs, concerns and pressures more completely than our competitors.”

Leading groundworks and civil engineering specialist, O’Brien Contractors, has been named by Readie Construction as the partner to work on MEPC’s Silverstone Park development.

The latest phase of the high-performance technology business park will enable new businesses to join a growing motor sport community, including eight of the 11 F1 constructor teams and many supply chain companies that serve the motorsport industry.

Appointed by principal contractor, Readie Construction, O’Brien has secured a design and build contract for the installation of roads, sewers and services.

Peter O’Brien, Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Readie Construction to our portfolio of high profile clients. It is always refreshing to work with likeminded businesses with a reputation of providing the highest standards in terms of quality, health and safety and the environment. We are very much looking forward to forging a strong and long-term relationship with them.”

O’Brien Contractors has built up a presence in the Northamptonshire area having provided civil engineering support on a number of schemes, including: Thunderbird 2 in Kettering – a 98,700 square meter distribution centre for Sir Robert McAlpine and Northampton College – a state of the art college building for SDC.

Established in 1958, O’Brien Contractors is a second generation, family-run business that has gone from strength to strength and expanded into a range of new sectors.

From commercial units and hospital facilities, to industrial units, schools, universities, highways and commercial housing developments, O’Brien’s extensive experience consistently leads to the delivery of class-leading solutions.

MEPC, the developer behind Silverstone Park, has aspirations to create more than 8,000 new jobs and accommodate 200 businesses at the site over the next 10 years.

With a long-established track record of delivering expert civil engineering solutions across the Midlands, we are proud to be named SME of the Year at the West Midlands Celebrating Construction Awards 2016.

We scooped the highly acclaimed award for investing in our people, focussing on improving customer satisfaction and adopting industry best practises across all areas of the business. We were also praised for our commitment to sustainability and maintaining an above industry record for health and safety.

Peter O’Brien, Managing Director, said: “A fundamental element of our success has been the commitment we’ve placed to the Midlands. We believe by focussing on the region, we can forge strong and long-lasting relationships with clients and our supply chain facilitating greater collaboration, essential in delivering projects successfully.”

Established in 1958, O’Brien has partnered with the region’s leading industry clients, including: Morgan Sindall, Aston University, John Sisk & Son, Kier Group and University of Birmingham.

Peter added: “It’s not just about consolidating your efforts into one area. We have continually invested back into the business so that we have a highly talented and knowledgeable team, operate the most efficient plant and technology, and benchmark against industry best practices, like Achilles BuildingConfidence – having achieved a 5-star rating in 2014. This regional award recognises the hard work and commitment of the whole O’Brien team.”

With the government earmarking grants for physical activity as part of its sport strategy, there’s never been a better time to invest in facilities.

The latest figures show that only four in ten adults play sport once a week and as a result, the government is changing the way it invests in community sport to get more of the population engaged in exercise.

Instead of just targeting people aged 14 and over, it will widen the brief to focus on all ages from five years-
old through to pensioners.

Investment will also be made in sports projects and activities which provide people with a greater quality of life – from improved physical and mental health to stronger communities.

There is also a strategy to enrich young people’s educational opportunities.

This new approach will be crucial in getting more of the nation active.

A report from The British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity revealed that regular physical activity could prevent people developing a range of health issues, such as cancer, Type II diabetes and heart disease.

It also found sports participation effective in reducing depression and anxiety.

Grants and funding are now available to schools, sports clubs, community groups and local authorities to enable the building of the new sports pitches and facilities needed to get people more active.

Finding a trusted partner

In order to maximise your budget and deliver high quality facilities, you need to engage with a specialist whose team of experts has a proven track record in designing and building sports projects to a diverse range of exacting client specifications.

O’Brien Sports delivers natural sports pitches, such as those used for rugby, football and cricket. It also supplies synthetic and Multi Use Games Area pitches, with surfaces suitable for just about every sport and user – from professional sports teams to schools and communities.

Recent projects include a synthetic grass hockey pitch for Burton Hockey Club and a 3G synthetic grass football pitch – constructed to meet FIFA requirements – for Worthing Football Club.

George Dorwell, chair, Worthing Football Club, said: “O’Brien Sports approached the project in a very professional manner. The construction team were meticulous in their work, and the end result is one of the highest standard playing surfaces in the league and the region. Feedback from fans, players and the local community has been very positive.”

Full range of services

O’Brien Sports offers a full range of sports pitch services, including:

• Full design and build construction projects
• Synthetic and multi-use games area (MUGA) pitches
• Pitch renovations
• Natural sports pitches
• Total solutions for sports pitches
• Infrastructure, including access roads and car parks

So if you’ve got a sports pitch project you’re looking to start then call us for a chat about it on 01926 423 918 or email us at info@obriencontractors.co.uk and we’ll get back to you soon.

We have been appointed to work on Interserve’s multi-million pound regional headquarters in Solihull.

Situated at the heart of the transport network and one of the Midlands’ important regional development programmes – UK Central, the new state-of-the-art headquarters will enable the Global construction and support services company to bring together its West Midlands operations into a single, energy efficient and highly sustainable building.

We will deliver a host of ground works – including: drainage, foundations and reinforced concrete works.

Tony Mitchell, Operations Manager, O’Brien Contractors, said: “The Ingenuity House development marks an exciting new chapter for Interserve and we are extremely delighted to have won this contract to provide groundworks expertise for their new flagship HQ.”

“We’ve developed a business strategy that focusses on becoming a regional strategic partner for leading construction companies, like Interserve. Key to our success is our ability to provide innovative solutions that reduce costs, saves time, delivers operational efficiency and ensures the highest standards of health and safety.”

Established in 1958, we are a second generation, family-run business that has gone from strength to strength and expanded into a range of new sectors.

From commercial units and Olympic-standard sports facilities, hospitals, universities, highways and commercial housing developments, our extensive experience consistently leads to the delivery of class-leading solutions.

Key projects and customers include: the Nestlé factory with John Sisk; the regeneration of Longbridge town centre with Morgan Sindall; and the Primark retail distribution centre with Sir Robert McAlpine.

The Mayor of East Staffordshire, Cllr David Leese cut the ribbon and officially opened Burton Hockey Club’s new full size synthetic grass hockey pitch at Shobnall Leisure Complex, Burton upon Trent.

The new facility, named after Peter Ellis, the former president and a member of the club for 50 years, was constructed by O’Brien Sports, in partnership with Notts Sports, and tested in accordance with “The International Hockey Federation (FIH).

It was Peter’s wish that the club obtained its own playing facilities and when he passed away, he made a generous donation that led to the formation of an Astro committee.

Building on Peter’s generosity, the committee raised additional money that provided support for a grant from Sport England and contributions from a number of other sources.

Ian Brown, Chairman, Burton Hockey Club, said: “It’s all a bit overwhelming that the dream that started five or six years ago – and enhanced by Peter’s legacy – has finally come to fruition.”

“It’s very exciting to have our own pitch for the first time since we formed back in 1889. We have always shared a venue or hired, so it’s the first time we have been able to call somewhere our home.”

Key to O’Brien’s success in securing sports pitch projects, including: a sand dressed hockey pitch at Burton Hockey Club, Christ’s College Finchley 3G football pitch, Gerard Buxton Sports Hub’s 3G football pitch and 8 tennis courts and Oswestry School’s hockey pitch has been their underlying commitment to invest in an earthworks team and the operation of GPS and laser guided plant.

Steve Hillman, O’Brien Sports, General Manager, said: “At tender stage our dedicated earthworks team liaise with both our internal estimators and our clients, and through accurate calculation of material quantities, we are able to deliver clear, accurate and reliable information and advice, before, during and after contracts.

By offering alternative designs at an early stage, we can create a solution that gives clients the best possible results financially and practically. We can also minimise our environmental impact by reducing plant movements and off site material disposal to landfill.”

“Once we are awarded a contract, our machine control expert models the designed earthworks profiles and uploads them remotely to the projects Dozers and Excavators. This then ensures that the plant is ready to work before it even reaches the site.”

If you’ve got a sports pitch project you’re looking to start then call us for a chat about it on 01926 423 918 or email us at info@obriencontractors.co.uk and we’ll get back to you soon.

Quantum Construction has awarded O’Brien Contractors a £900k groundworks package for a regional distribution warehouse in Bedford.

Codenamed Project Gazelle, the new 3,058m2 warehouse, including offices and distribution facility, is for Matthew Clark, a national drinks wholesaler with over 200 years’ experience supplying drink products, hospitality training, labour management and marketing support to over 16,000 On-Trade premises across the UK.

The works to be undertaken by O’Brien include: pad foundations, service yard – including the ramps for the dock levellers, ground floor slab of in-situ concrete and associated drainage.

Operations Manager, Tony Mitchell, said: “We are delighted to have won this contract and have the opportunity to demonstrate our technical expertise to new client Quantum Construction.”

“Organisations are looking for a partner who can provide the most cost-effective solution while always ensuring the best quality and speed of installation, a commitment we apply across all of our projects.”