Category: News

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.”

The safety of employees, sub-contractors and members of the public is our top priority.

With a varied workforce, managing training requirements, ensuring qualifications stay up-to-date and recording all of this information in a meaningful way had become a very complicated and time-consuming job.

By implementing SkillSight, the free skills management software from Reference Point, we have been able to improve the way we raise awareness of health and safety throughout the business and protect employees by ensuring people attend the necessary training courses, providing them with the relevant skills to carry out their jobs on site safely and efficiently.

With a workforce ranging from 100 to 180 depending on the range of projects appointed to, Training Coordinator Kelly Davis has to record thousands of inductions and qualifications on Excel spreadsheets which previously stored all of the company’s training related information, but were difficult to manage.

Added to this, many of the qualifications expire after certain periods so workers have to be booked onto the correct courses at the appropriate times so that they stay accredited as required.

SkillSight allows construction companies to add training and qualifications to the chip on CSCS cards and securely edit the information online at any time. Then the card can be read on site, in the office or anywhere it needs to be, using a card reader or NFC enabled android or Windows smartphone.

Graham Wren, CSCS Chief Executive, said: “It’s encouraging to see that forward thinking contractors like O’Brien are taking advantage of the many benefits that using CSCS smartcards can bring.”

O’Brien’s Training Coordinator, Kelly Davis, said: “Following a successful office-based trial we are rolling SkillSight out onto sites with a view to implementing it on a company-wide system over the next few months. Already it is making managing our training records much easier and quicker and more accurate.”

Andrew Foster, Health and Safety Manager, said: “We are constantly striving to raise awareness of health and safety throughout the business and we aim to protect employees by providing healthy and safe working conditions and by minimising the risk of accident or injury by providing our team with the necessary training and skills to work more safely. The implementation of SkillSight and CSCS smart cards will help us to achieve this goal.”

We are proud to announce we have supported Warwick Myton Hospice in giving the centre a makeover.

Through its’ patient and family support services, the Coventry and Warwickshire based charity provides vital assistance to 1,000 patients and their families each year, from hospices in Warwick, Rugby and Coventry.

The initiative has presented us with the opportunity to give back to the community by donating members of staff to decorate sections of the Myton Hospice in Warwick.

Tony Mitchell, Operations Manager, said: “The specialist care Myton Hospice gives to people who are terminally ill is magnificent. We were delighted to have the opportunity to help maintain one of their first-class facilities, helping ensure their patients have a comfortable environment to be cared in.”

Over the last couple of years, we have adopted a more strategic approach with a number of Midlands-based leading organisations, including: Morgan Sindall, John Sisk & Son, Aston University, Kier Group, Galliford Try, Birmingham City University and Lovell Partnerships. The change in policy has enabled our business to deliver the highest standards across projects in Birmingham, including: St. Modwen’s Longbridge Town Centre Phase 2 scheme, Alumno Developments’ Number One City Locks, Aston Student Village scheme and The New Assay Office and in-turn, grow turnover by 59.98%, from £17.5m to £28.03m.

This financial success has been the driving force behind the company backing a wealth of community support initiatives, including:

• Sponsored two primary schools in Cubbington as part of the ‘For Schools Warwickshire Road Safety Club’.
• Entered a 14-strong team in the 10K Warwickshire Wolf Run Challenge and raised £1,758 for the West Midlands Alzheimer’s Society.
• Funded four assisted holidays for South Warwickshire charity, ILEAP.
• Supported Leamington-based The British Blind Sports charity in their 40^th Anniversary, to assist blind and partially sighted children and adults in their pursuit of sports participation.

“Our business is run on good family values and we actively get involved in schemes that benefit the local community. 2014/2015 has delivered a record turnover and this financial success has given us the platform to be able to do even more with local charities.”

Phill Jones, Myton Hospice, Estates Manager at the Warwick Hospice, said: “We would like to say an extremely big thank you to O’Brien Contractors who have spent almost three weeks helping transform our Warwick Myton Hospice. Their voluntary labour has saved Myton a significant amount of money. We greatly appreciate their hard work and generosity.”

For further information about Myton Hospice, please visit their website: www.mytonhospice.org

We have been awarded the silver prize at the 2015 International Green Apple Environment Awards.

Our earthworks remediation solution, implemented as part of the £11m groundworks and civil engineering package at Nestle’s £200m coffee manufacturing facility, was the key factor for receiving the award.

The judges were looking for evidence that the winning project considered the impact on the environment and contemplated sustainability. With 2012 the wettest year on record, our team were presented with a site containing 40,000m3 of spoil not suitable for re-use. The original solution proposed by our engineer was no longer viable.

To overcome this, we developed and implemented a remediation strategy, that subsequently cut costs by £800k, reduced lorry movements by c7,000 saving 15 tonnes CO2, retained all spoil on-site and reduced imported stone by 70%. Our project team also achieved a zero accident performance with in excess of 90,000 man hours worked and created a safer stable site for ongoing construction work.

Peter O’Brien, Managing Director, said: “Across all the projects we operate on we pride ourselves on delivering a solution that considers the environment. To further endorse this commitment, we will continue to significantly invest in our earthworks service to ensure we provide clients with the most efficient earthworks solutions and also help them reduce waste and costs. Any recognition in the form of an award is very much well received.”

The award judges commented: “The best-laid plans often fall victim to outside influence such as the weather – as was the case with this project for Nestle. After planning approval, the scheme experienced the highest-ever rainfall, which made the plans all but impossible. O’Brien management brainstormed the issue and came up with a novel work-around that utilised remediation instead of excavation that not only got the project back on track, but offered a massive reduction in vehicle movements and saved a whopping 15 tons of CO2 emissions.”

Commenting on the scheme, Ian Donaldson, Project Director, John Sisk & Son, said: “O’Brien Contractors involvement was the catalyst in developing the most cost effective and least environmentally damaging solution to the problem of a saturated site and they have been a crucial factor to the success of the project.”