Tag: birmingham

We have proudly supported Kier Construction and Sense with a garden makeover that Alan Titchmarsh would be proud of.

Our team helped carry out the transformation at Sense’s King’s Heath care accommodation, following the invitation by Kier Construction Central’s office to support them with one of their local community projects.

O’Brien’s work, included: level reduction, a base for slab area, new slabs (200 in total), scrub removal and the installation of ducting across the garden.

Kier Construction Central had previously completed individual, small-scale community support activities related to their construction projects, but realised by combining their efforts, they could have a greater impact if targeted in the right direction.

A garden refurbishment at a property owned by Sense in Kings Heath was identified as a suitable type and size. The property is the home of four adults who all have varying impairments, and require 24 hour care.

Adam Ewing, Project Manager, Kier Construction, said: “Our objective was to improve the whole outdoor experience of the garden, including: safety, access, aesthetic, sensory and maintenance aspects.”

The garden in its original state was very basic, run down, un-safe and not a suitable for the residents.

“The new garden will open the space up and provide residents and their visitors with a wonderful place to meet up, relax and enjoy being outdoors.”

Tony Mitchell, Operations Manager, O’Brien Contractors, said: “We didn’t hesitate to get involved when asked by Kier to support them. We are a family run business, built on a tradition of making a positive impact on the lives of people in and around our operations.

“Sense really does a fantastic job providing people who are deafblind, have sensory impairments or complex needs, with a more independent lifestyle and everyone involved felt that their contribution, however big or small, will really change people’s quality of life for the better.”

Adam Ewing, added: “O’Brien’s assistance was pivotal to the success of the project and their support throughout was a key factor. I would like to thank the team for all their help on behalf of Kier Construction Central.”

We have been appointed to work on the revamp of KKR and Quadrant Estates’ Gallagher Retail Park in Wednesbury.

Appointed by principal contractor, RG Group, we will deliver a host of ground works at the popular retail park near Junction 9 of the M6 – including: reconfiguration of existing retail units, construction of new retail and food units, together with the refurbishment of the car parking areas. The expansion is also anticipated to generate more than 200 new jobs for the local area.

Tony Mitchell, Operations Manager, O’Brien Contractors, said: “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to partner, once again with RG Group on such an important project for the local region.

Our experience of working on active developments will come to the fore with this project as two thirds of the retail park remains open for business. We will also be working to a tight programme of works, including working across multiple areas and multiple phases, as well as organised scheduled deliveries to ensure minimum disruption to shoppers on the busy weekends leading up to Christmas, and a safe passage to and from home for pupils from the adjacent school is provided.” added Tony.

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 regeneration of Longbridge town centre; groundworks and infrastructure works for Morgan Sindall and the Primark Retail Distribution Centre; foundations, drainage and underground services with Sir Robert McAlpine.

For more information, please contact Neil Nickolds, Marketing Manager on 01926 319 724 or email neilnickolds@obriencontractors.co.uk

We have secured a second contract with Readie Construction at Bericote Properties’ Four Ashes Park scheme near Wolverhampton.

The new £126.3 million 50,000 square metre manufacturing facility is being developed for Gestamp, an international group dedicated to the design, development and manufacture of metal automotive components, and will enable the company to create a more efficient and competitive, customer focused factory for clients in the region, namely BMW, Honda, JLR, Nissan-Renault and Toyota.

Appointed by principal contractor, Readie Construction, we have secured a contract for the installation of three 6m deep factory pits, capping beam, office floor slab, associated internal and external drainage, service trenches and external works.

Peter O’Brien, Managing Director, O’Brien Contractors, said: “We are very pleased to have been awarded another subcontract by Readie Construction. We have an excellent track record of delivering civil engineering services across the Midlands and as with all our schemes, our team will approach the project in a flexible manner, offering cost and efficiency savings to ensure we deliver the best results for our client.”

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.

Its portfolio of civil engineering projects, include: Regeneration of Longbridge Town Centre in Birmingham, Beacon Barracks SFA housing scheme in Stafford, Primark Distribution Centre in Kettering, New Cross Hospital’s new Accident and Emergency Centre in Wolverhampton and University of Birmingham’s campus expansion in Birmingham.

The new plant will be fitted out with new state-of-the-art stamping equipment and is designed to safeguard the 800 jobs at Gestamp’s current Cannock plant.

If your boss gave you the choice of travelling a minimum 5 hour round trip in the car, or to make that journey in 5 seconds at the click of a button, what would you choose?

Well, for engineering surveyor, Gareth Price and his team at civil engineering and groundworks specialist, O’Brien Contractors, that choice has become a reality, thanks to director, Mick O’Brien, whose investment in 3D machine control and Trimble Connected Community software, has dramatically reshaped the business.

In order to understand how the solution works, Finning News took up the offer from SITECH UK and Ireland’s Zoë Adnitt, to visit Mick at a new sports pitch project in Romford and then travel to O’Brien’s head office in Leamington Spa, all in one very long day.

The project itself involved the creation of a brand new 3G sports pitch and a multi-use games area (MUGA), constructed next to an existing sports centre. With very tight tolerances required to meet the exacting standards for the pitch, before the job was secured, the surveying team carried out an in house survey, modeled the whole project in 3D and then monitored it throughout the earthworks programme, as Mick explained:

“Having proven the benefits of machine control on previous sports pitch projects, we have now gone to the lengths of setting up a new specialist division for this type of work.

“So in practical terms, our first aim with any project is to try and ensure that no material leaves site, eliminating the need and cost of truck movements. This is achieved by recycling good quality soils and designing in features like earth bunds to use material that would normally be classified as inert waste.

“Our challenge throughout this process is that we have to stick as closely to our design as possible, but you never truly know what you will unearth or how materials will compact, until you actually start doing the job.

“This is why you have to be on top of a project from day one. Typically before GPS enabled 3D machine control, we would have had to send a member of our team down to site on a very regular basis, which is a costly exercise when a round trip is 5 hours. This was the reason that prior to our investment in this technology, we tendered for jobs much closer to our base in Leamington Spa.

“This was obviously quite restrictive to our growth, especially in the more specialist sports pitch market. So by using two-way communication through the Trimble technology using the GPS network, the machines are able to tell us what they have been doing and we can see the daily progress onsite at the touch of a button.

“Equally, we can see the all important levels being achieved and therefore continually update our calculations around material movements, settlement and compaction. This means that Gareth, our engineering surveyor, can make relevant adjustments to the 3D model from his desk, delivering changes to the individual machines onsite, at the touch of a button, via the Trimble Connected Community.

“So what would be a round trip of at least 5 hours to our latest Romford project to upload a file from a memory stick or complete a survey using older techniques, is a 5 second file click and drag process, which is then sent through the cloud.

“In commercial terms, this approach has totally changed our capabilities and more importantly for the customer, changed the way a project is delivered. Our customers get a 3D design matching high quality finish, reduced truck movements, which pleases the local residents and a faster job, at a fixed competitive price.

“It really is a win win for both parties and a transformational journey from regional to national contractor for our business, I honestly don’t know how we could run a profitable job without it.”

So if you’ve got an earthworks project you’re looking to start, click here to talk to us about how we can help you generate cost and efficiency savings.

We have had our carbon footprint verified by TÜV UK Ltd to the ISO 14064-3:2006 standard across our operations.

Verification to ISO 14064, is one of the most effective ways to measure, quantify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The audit showed that, when normalised against turnover (£17m in 2014 and £28m in 2015), we had significantly reduced our usage of resources year-on-year and continually exceeded target.

In order to achieve our emissions reduction goal, we developed a strategy based on:

• Investing and upgrading and operating the most efficient plant and technology available.
• Providing staff with training on how to improve their driving to reduce fuel consumption.
• Investing an average of £140k per year on upgrading its fleet of vehicles to ensure that they are the most efficient and low-emission models available.
• Offering shuttle buses to promote vehicle pooling for staff working on our construction sites.

Vicki O’Brien, O’Brien Contractors, said: “We are very much committed to minimising the impact of our activities on the environment and all stakeholders, in order to operate a business that is safe, sustainable and socially responsible. Verifying our footprint to an International standard will serve as a benchmark against to help us achieve our goal of continuously reducing our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.”

Our commitment to environmental improvement also saw us become the first to achieve ISO 14001 certification among our core rivals in the civil engineering sector.

Our processes and procedures have also been audited and validated to ISO 9001 for quality and OHSAS 18001, CHAS, Achilles BuildingConfidence (5-star rating) and Achilles RISQS for health and safety.

Vicki added: “By raising our standards, we have been able to operate more akin with our clients, and target major projects with greater contract values, or strategic divisions, placing greater focus on delivery and quality, not just price.”

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.”

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.”

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.

We have been shortlisted in the Property and Regeneration category for the 2015 Birmingham Post Business Awards.

The winner will be the company that has demonstrated exceptional progress over the last year by growing financially and expanding the services they offer to clients. We have achieved a 59.98% increase in turnover and significantly invested in our earthworks service. During 2014/2015, we spent £220k in GPS technology and appointed an Engineering Manager and Assistant Project Manager to provide clients with the most efficient earthworks solutions, helping them reduce waste and cost. Across projects in Birmingham, our solution has prevented 27,000m3 of material from being taken to landfill, equating to:

• Avoided c.3000 of lorry movements across Birmingham.
• Saving 23T CO2 and fuel for 90,000 miles of 20 tonne lorry haulage, leading to less pollution in the atmosphere.

Other criteria that the company will be judged on include job creation, investment in equipment and infrastructure, industry recognition, accreditation, accolades, service innovation, strong commitment to the region and customer satisfaction.

In our submission we have demonstrated excellence and improvements in all of these categories.

Managing Director, Peter O’Brien said: “We are delighted to have been shortlisted in this category. We are a Midlands based company and committed to this geographical area, a strategy that will ensure we continue to deliver excellent projects for our customers and provide them with the best service for the best value.”

The achievements that have resulted in the shortlisting for this award include:

• Turnover increased by 59.98%, from £17.5m to £28.03m.
• Delivered 9 multi-million pound contracts which accounted for our 2014 turnover.
• Recruited 5 apprentices from the Birmingham area.
• Health and Safety: Maintained our accident rates well below industry average.
• Awarded consecutive ROSPA gold accolade.
• Invested £2.4m in plant and equipment.

The winners will be announced at the Birmingham Post Business Awards on Thursday 12^th November at the International Convention Centre, Birmingham.

We have  been appointed to work on Perry Beeches the Academy Trust’s fifth highly-acclaimed free school in Small Heath, Birmingham.

The delivery of a £10 million primary and secondary school facility at the former Virgin Media Office Building and adjacent industrial units will feature a 3 storey extension, sports hall, football pitch, MUGA and car parking.

Appointed by principal contractor, Morgan Sindall, we will deliver earthworks and a host of ground works – including foundations, drainage and associated works.

Morgan Sindall is a leading UK construction, infrastructure and design company and our Operations Manager, Tony Mitchell, sees the new contract as an endorsement of the services provided to them at St. Modwen’s Longbridge Town Centre Phase 2 in Birmingham: “We are delighted to be working with Morgan Sindall on this important education project in Birmingham. The past year has seen us work closely with Morgan Sindall, fully understanding their standards, philosophy and objectives and we hope Perry Beeches V will strengthen our relationship further.”

We will draw on our technical expertise, which includes state-of-the-art GPS controlled surveying equipment and machinery, to deliver groundworks services in the most efficient method possible and with minimal waste.

“Our team is well-versed at delivering high-grade education facilities in a live environment having provided civil engineering services on 9 schools as part of the Priority School Building Programme in Coventry and this experience will be pivotal in the execution of the scheme.”

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. Receiving the prestigious five star rating for Achilles BuildingConfidence accreditation in 2014 means O’Brien sits alongside leading names in the construction sector as suppliers of excellent quality work with a commitment to growth and sustainability.

Key projects and customers include the Nestlé factory and Number One City Locks residential building both with John Sisk & Son; Longbridge Town Centre Phase 2 with Morgan Sindall; Aston Student Village for Aston University; and the Primark retail distribution centre with Sir Robert McAlpine.

Picture Caption: Perdip Mann, Secondary Headteacher, Perry Beeches V School, Caz Brasenell, Primary Headteacher, Perry Beeches V School and Tony Fitzgerald, Project Manager, Morgan Sindall.