Category: News

O’Brien Contractors, a specialist civil engineering firm providing best-practice, cost-effective design and build services for a wide range of construction projects, has won the Birmingham Post 2013 Business Award for Property including Regeneration and Estate Management, beating off prestigious shortlisted competitors such as St. Mowden Properties.

The award recognises O’Brien’s achievements in several key areas:

• Strong financial performance
• Job creation
• Investment in equipment and infrastructure
• Scale and complexity
• Product or service innovation
• Industry recognition, accreditation, accolades and commitment to customer service
• Commitment to the region

Managing Director, Peter O’Brien, said: ‘We are delighted to have received this award. It’s further justification that the decisions we made when the business was facing tough times were the right ones.’

When profits were hit by the 2009 recession O’Brien’s took the brave decision of investing in a £620K diversification initiative, which has paid off and seen 2013 deliver the company’s best year ever.

As well as expanding the services it offers to its customers, O’Brien’s has invested £150K in people development providing progression opportunities and qualifications for existing staff, creating new jobs and starting a new apprenticeship programme.

This award is the latest success in a year that has seen O’Brien’s win several, including:

• Celebrating Construction SME Award for the West Midlands
• Diamond Standard for Customer Satisfaction
• Silver International CSR Excellence Award in the Environment Category

Peter O’Brien was also named as Business Person of Year in the Pride of Warwick District Awards.

Construction News Magazine – SME Spotlight 16/08/2013

The business was established by my father, Tom O’Brien in 1958. I became Managing Director in 1980, aged just 24 and since then the business has grown substantially, with our largest contract now in the region of £8m.

O’Brien Contractors offers a wide range of services, from design and build through to plant hire, in sectors such as healthcare, education and residential. We work collaboratively on projects with our suppliers and a loyal range of clients, including JLR, the National Trust and Aston University. We’ve also delivered numerous contracts involving railway stations, commercial units and Olympic-standard sports facilities.

In 2009, after 50 years as a specialist contractor providing drainage and groundworks, our business started to feel the pinch of the recession. When turnover and profit reduced by £3.3m and £330k, respectively, my Board and I set about developing challenging but realistic objectives to turn things around by the end of 2013. These objectives have enabled the business to see unimaginable growth: Principal Contractor contracts accounting for 40% of sales and £900k worth of secured sports pitch contracts, are just a few of our successes.

The diversification strategy that we developed took considerable planning and analysis with close to £1m of company money being invested in it. But it paid off and 2013 has seen us achieve record-breaking levels of turnover. With an order book of £10m already secure for the coming year our outlook for 2014 looks even brighter, with turnover set to increase by 33% to £18m.

I am most proud of the fact that it allowed us to safeguard the careers of our 97 members of staff; 23 of whom have joined us recently as a result of our growth.

If I was to highlight one area to credit with our success, it would be customer satisfaction. We’ve all worked tirelessly to improve the service to our clients and are now seeing more contracts come through referrals from previous clients, while repeat business has increased from 60% in 2009 to 85% in 2012. .

Although our client base has grown from 35 to 50, I believe today’s market is a challenging place to be. I would encourage other companies to look at core competencies, use the capabilities and resources you already have within your business. Develop your staff, use in-house skills and create your own USP, this has been an invaluable strategy for us.

Over the years this business has seen many ups and downs, with the recent economic downturn being one of the toughest. However, I believe today’s team is the strongest we have ever had and having diversified to reach new markets, we have put ourselves in a very secure position. Never one to rest on our laurels, we will keep listening to our clients to continually improve and aim ever higher.

O’Brien Contractors, a specialist civil engineering firm providing best-practice, cost-effective design and build services for a wide range of construction projects, has won a Gold International CSR Excellence Award in the Building & Construction Category.

The awards recognise companies that commit to making a positive, beneficial impact on their customers, their suppliers, their employees and their families, and the communities they work in.

The Gold level of award that O’Brien won was announced at the awards ceremony on HMS Belfast on Monday 29th July.

Peter O’Brien, Managing Director at O’Brien Contractors said: “We are delighted to have won this award. As a company we are completely committed to providing the best service to our customers, being the best employer for our staff and making a positive impact on the communities where we deliver projects.”

“So far 2013 has seen us create new jobs in the region and win the Constructing Excellence SME Award for the West Midlands region. This additional recognition of our efforts shows that we are on the right track to achieve all of our goals.”

O’Brien Contractors has continued its support of local communities with the sponsorship of both Leamington RUFC and Cubbington Albion FC, after a tough year both the clubs required financial backing to enable them to look to their seasons ahead.

Ryan Cranton, FA coach at Cubbington Albion Juniors FC said: “Unfortunately, due to running costs at our club were on the brink of folding all junior teams, however we are now looking to build a solid foundation this season with U11 and U12 teams which will see us move forward in forthcoming seasons to add additional age groups. This has only been possible with the support of local businesses such as O’Brien’s and for this we are hugely grateful.”

O’Brien Contractors, a specialist civil engineering firm providing best-practice, cost-effective design and build services for a wide range of construction projects, has won the 2013 Celebrating Construction SME Award for the West Midlands.

The Celebrating Construction Awards are designed to showcase excellence and reward the accomplishments of organisations and project teams that have achieved region-wide acclaim.

The SME Award recognises construction companies that employ 250 or fewer people and have made significant progress in their people development processes, and in adopting best practices alongside collaborative and new ways of working.

Winning the SME Award means that O’Brien’s have automatically made it into the finals of the National Constructing Excellence Awards, which is one of the leading built environment awards in the UK.

Peter O’Brien, Managing Director at O’Brien Contractors said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have won this award. It affirms our commitment to achieving continual improvement in everything we do.”

“As a company, we are dedicated to providing excellent service to our customers and an excellent working environment for our staff and this award shows that we are achieving this.”

Leading groundworks and civil engineering contractor, O’Brien, has won the first of the priority schools at Whitmore Park, Coventry.

A ‘ground breaking’ ceremony was held to celebrate the start of construction on a new £4.89m building for Whitmore Park School on Halford Lane – the first school to be delivered under the £2.4bn Priority School Building Programme(PSBP).

The new 3,336 sq m primary education facility forms part of the first batch of Priority Schools in the Midlands, the £36m contract for which was awarded to Wates Construction by the Department for Education (DfE) in January this year.

The event saw the Education Funding Agency (EFA) Chief Executive, Peter Lauener and Councillor David Kershaw join Wates and staff and students from Whitmore Park to mark the start of the building works.

The move on site is a major step forward in the government’s PSBP that will see the rebuild of 261 schools across the UK. The successful applicants to the programme were announced in July 2012 and the programme has been centrally procured by the EFA on behalf of the DfE.

The work at Whitmore Park School will include the rebuild of four primary schools, one secondary school and a broad spectrum special school*, totalling 3,687 pupil places.
Peter O’Brien, Managing Director of O’Brien Contractors Ltd, said “We are extremely pleased to be working alongside Wates on the first of the priority schools building programme. We look forward to working with Wates on this prestigious contract.”

Phil Harrison, Managing Director for Wates Construction, Midlands and North, commented: “The start of construction at Whitmore Park is the beginning of a new phase in the delivery of the government’s flagship Priority School Building Programme. The building works are intended to deliver much-needed new facilities in Coventry and we have and will continue to keep very close consultation with both the EFA and Coventry City Council to ensure these essential works serve to positively impact the educational experience for the city’s teachers and young people.”
Peter Lauener, Chief Executive of the Education Funding Agency, said: “I am delighted to be able to join students and staff at Whitmore Park at the start of construction works for the first school to be rebuilt as part of the Priority School Building Programme. This promises to be an exciting phase in the school’s development.

“We are making excellent progress with this programme, with building works starting across the country in the coming weeks and months as we overhaul the schools with the greatest need and help ensure young people can learn in buildings that are up to scratch.”

Councillor David Kershaw, Coventry City Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said the work is a significant milestone. “It is wonderful that this significant investment in school buildings will mean that more Coventry children and young people will benefit from the facilities and opportunities of a new school,” he said.

“The City Council is a key partner in these developments and has a strong track record of working effectively with Wates Construction. Our six schools that are part of the Priority School Building Programme are in urgent need of new buildings and provides an opportunity to provide excellent learning environments for the pupils and staff in these schools.”

* Schools included in the Coventry Priority School Building Programme are:

– Whitmore Park Primary
– St Thomas More Primary
– Wyken Croft Primary
– Richard Lee Primary
– Ernsford Grange Secondary
– Alice Stevens Special School

Leading civil engineering and groundworks contractor, O’Brien, will be working alongside Wilmott Dixon on the construction of the AT7 Centre, Coventry.

The AT7 centre’s new facilities will include a health suite with a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi, changing rooms, and a new entrance foyer.

O’Brien’s work will include the construction of a swimming pool, learner pool and associated car parks with drainage. The specialist works will require O’Brien to call on their extensive skills and knowledge of the leisure market.

O’Brien is extremely pleased to be working alongside Wilmott Dixon in a continuation of their contract at Warwick University and as an extension of their successful ongoing relationship.

The contract commences in June and will run for a duration of 40 weeks.

O’Brien Contractors provides best-practice, cost-effective design and build services for sports facilities and, in a contract worth £400K, has been chosen to deliver a new hockey pitch at Oswestry School.

The 15-week project, which commences on 22 April 2013, will see construction of a 6,300m² sand-dressed synthetic grass hockey pitch and includes earth modelling, fencing and floodlighting.

Founded in 1407, Oswestry School is one of the oldest non-denominational schools in England and is an independent, co-educational day and boarding school for pupils between the ages of 4 and 18.

Steve Hillman, General Manager at O’Brien Contractors, will be jointly managing the project and said: “This is a great opportunity for O’Brien to work with the prestigious Oswestry School and we are delighted to have been successful in winning this project.”

“As a company, we are committed to providing excellent service and are looking forward to working with Oswestry to upgrade their sporting facilities with the addition of a first-class hockey pitch.”

As part of its commitment to continual improvement, leading civil engineering and groundworks contractor, O’Brien, has achieved a 20% increase in its client satisfaction rating in just one year. The increase has seen customer satisfaction go from 72% in 2012 to 92% in 2013. In recognition the company has been awarded the Diamond Standard for Customer Service from BenchmarQ, a division of QMS International.

The survey carried out by BenchmarQ has seen O’Brien awarded an overall score of 92 out of 100 across a number of services and categories:

• Marketing: 83%
• Staff Performance: 95%
• Service: 91%

For many of the questions, O’Brien’s customers awarded them the highest level of four (excellent) – showing that the company’s determination to improve all aspects of their work and relationships has paid dividends.

O’Brien Contractors’ Managing Director, Peter O’Brien said: “Customer satisfaction and continual improvement is at the core of everything we do. It is embedded throughout the company and at the forefront of all our employees’ minds.”

“We will always strive to offer the best quality, knowledge and skills and this award recognises the commitment we have made to that work ethic; and to working more collaboratively with our clients. All of us at O’Brien are very proud of our achievement.”

The customer feedback that helped O’Brien achieve this prestigious award includes:

 Staff Performance: 95%

• “Excellent.”
• “They’re very friendly.”
• “They’re very professional. They have good project management, good skills and a good work force.”

 Service: 91%

• “They’re very proactive.”
• “Definitely a four.”

 Price: 91%

“A four, as they won a competitive tender for a £2.5 million pound construction job.”

“They compare favourably.”

 Overall

“They’re easy to deal with and they do exactly what needs to be done.”

O’Brien Contractors were contracted by St Finbarr’s to deliver a 3G sports pitch at St Finbarr’s Sports and Social Club, Coventry.

The new pitch was developed after recognising that more accessible training areas were needed, the report by Coventry City Council showed the current area could not cope with the level of sport being played, older pitches were of a poor standard and St Finbarr’s 3G would be a welcomed addition to the local area and community.

O’Brien’s 8 week contract involved; earthworks, drainage, sub base, fencing, lighting and surfacing for the sports club. The new pitch had a Desso IDNA 3G laid and a central dividing curtain to allow for multiple 5-aside games to be played.

The feedback on the project has been positive with Leisure Leagues naming it as: “The best 3G pitch in Coventry”.

Steve Hillman, General Manager – Sports Division at O’Brien Contractors, said: “This has been a great opportunity for O’Brien to show off its sport pitch capabilities. The new 3G pitch looks great, the project was a major success, coming in on time and within budget. St Finbarr’s is extremely pleased with the finished result”.

In its highest valued-project to date, O’Brien Contractors has been sub-contracted by new customer, John Sisk and Sons, to deliver services for Nestlé UK’s £200 million extension to its NESCAFÉ factory in Tutbury, Derbyshire.

The Tutbury extension is currently the Nestle group’s largest construction project worldwide and for the first time will bring together all of Nestlé’s coffee production, including freeze dried, spray dried and pod technology, on one 30-acre site.

The 61-week project, which commences on 07 January 2013, will create 300 new jobs in the local area and involve the construction of 13 buildings and associated car parks. O’Brien Contractors will deliver substructures, foundations, drainage, storm water management systems, formation of access roads, ground remediation, foul and storm drainage, landscaping, service yards, floors and dock levellers.

Andy Foster, Project Manager at O’Brien Contractors, said: “This is a great opportunity for O’Brien to work with Nestlé, which is the area’s largest employer, on the extension of their NESCAFÉ factory.”

“As a company, we are committed to minimising this project’s impact on the local community and will be using ground solutions that prevent excessive movement of materials off site. This multi-million pound contract is a fantastic start to 2013 for O’Brien Contractors and we are delighted to have developed a collaborative relationship with Sisk and look forward to working with them to deliver a successful project for Nestlé.”