黑洞社区

Business and the military mind
Roger Howick鈥檚 outfit 鈥� and I use the word advisedly 鈥� is Space Decks, a 拢15m-turnover company based Somerset. He turns up for the interview in an impeccable City pinstripe suit, but you can picture him in khaki serge of the Royal Artillery, with which he served, planning an installation with precise strokes of a chinagraph pencil. 鈥淭ake Baker Company and set up a blocking position in the atrium. We鈥檒l advance with the laminated glass panels.鈥� In fact, Howick鈥檚 main target is the client and his strategy is to overwhelm them with a total service that begins with design advice and ends with installation. 鈥淲e like to get involved on a project at the concept stage. We can work with the architect and give our expert advice,鈥� he says in clipped-off sentences. 鈥淲e鈥檝e strong engineering and design departments. And very strong project management experience.鈥� And his battle honours? Bluewater, BA鈥檚 Waterside and Toyota鈥檚 new headquarters. Next action: a 拢5.5m job at Birmingham鈥檚 Bull Ring. Martin Davis
M&E

Fighting the good fight
Drake & Scull found itself tackling the project from hell a year or so ago when it landed the job of installing the electrical work on the Jubilee Line Extension. It had its work cut out racing to meet the mother, father and maiden aunt of all deadlines and everything was going wrong. This harrowing experience may have something to do with Martin Davis becoming a born-again Eganite, a kind of missionary to the heathens of UK construction. The vice-president of Emcor Drake & Scull, as it鈥榮 now known (the 拢350m branch of a 拢3bn American tree), talks hopefully of the industry鈥檚 鈥渃hanging culture鈥�, and worries aloud about the selfishness of a fragmented industry. Luckily, there鈥檚 a shining city on the hill within our reach. 鈥淲e need to integrate the supply team and we鈥檝e got to avoid the 鈥渦s and them鈥� attitude that exists between management, staff, labour, contractors and suppliers,鈥� he says. Hallelujah to that. Gary Sullivan
Support services

Making it happen
Meet the client鈥檚 mate. Need something moving around the site? Want to make sure none of the kit gets borrowed? Haven鈥檛 got time to manage all those traffic jams that clog your theatre of operations? You need Wilson James. In fact, the firm will do everything short of taking your dachshund for a walk and buying you a pint after work. More technically, Wilson James is a support services provider (turnover: 拢22m) with nice little sidelines in facilities and event management and aviation support services. And it all belongs to a smooth operator called Garry Sullivan. I say 鈥渟mooth operator鈥� because Mr Sullivan is a sleek, self-confident individual with polished client-control skills 鈥� just the sort of face that fits with blue-chip clients such as BAA and Stanhope. But doesn鈥檛 it bother him that (trying 鈥� and failing 鈥� to put this nicely) nobody really knows he exists? If it does, he鈥檚 resigned to it. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an industry attitude,鈥� he says. 鈥淟ogistics is seen as a project add-on.鈥�

Being bright
Pardon the pun, but David Hill, proprietor of Hills Electricals, is well switched-on. After completing a degree in materials science, he joined his father鈥檚 company to make himself loadsa money. Since then, he has worked out exactly what clients want: they want good work at low prices. Of course, it鈥檚 not enough just to get this idea straight in your mind. You also have to set up the organisation to deliver it. And then you have to tinker with it and worry about it and hone it until you鈥檙e satisfied you鈥檙e delivering services at the lowest possible cost, with the highest possible value. In fact, Hill thinks much of this can be done by taking an enlightened approach to the client: be flexible, don鈥檛 get hung up on contracts, make sure you understand each other 鈥� nobody is going to get upset over good quality work. This approach has created fantastic growth: over 30 years, Hills Electrical has gone from nothing to a 拢68m-turnover firm, with more than 800 employees, and has also earned it the trust of its latest client 鈥� the Bank of England, no less. Andrew Holloway
Carpentry

You can be Mr Green
You know tradesmen 鈥� carpenters and plasterers and the like. They roll their own cigarettes, drink 30-40 cups of tea a day and talk about nothing but football, money and sex 鈥� and that鈥檚 just the women. Actually, you don鈥檛 know tradesmen, and Andrew Holloway can explain why. He is appalled by the industry鈥檚 attitude towards them and despairs of its lack of empathy with its own materials. We are talking craftsmanship here, but not the kind that can merely turn out a mitre joint correct to a tenth of a millimetre. Holloway (a former potter, of all things) created the Green Oak Carpentry Company 鈥� a high-tech, high-IQ business with a turnover of 拢1m and 25 staff 鈥� that can do incredible things with wood. The firm鈥檚 most spectacular job was the timber gridshell roof of the Weald and Downland Museum 鈥� a structure that had hardly ever been attempted, and never without something going badly wrong. Not this time: Holloway鈥檚 understanding of timber meant that the joints didn鈥檛 crack when the roof was raised, and its technical solutions were subsequently patented. And the secret of his success? 鈥淲e have a higher than average competence in carpentry and expertise and craftsmanship 鈥︹�� And then some.

Roofing? It鈥檚 a people business
What do you say when one of your employees cocks-up a vital part of your particular package of work? Is it (a) Why did you do that, you subnormal baboon? or (b) Uh-oh, we鈥檙e in trouble now 鈥� Greg Roberts favours the second of these approaches. Perhaps that鈥檚 why EJ Roberts Roofing is the first roofing company in London to win an Investors in People award, an accolade that the boss is very proud of. On the other hand, it may have something to do with Roberts鈥� approach to business. He is first and last a roofer, albeit with deep roots in his East End manor. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to diversify 鈥� when we have tried it, we鈥檝e not exactly covered ourselves in glory,鈥� he laughs. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to increase turnover, but I do want better profits. In the future, I want us to be the same small roofing contractor with, hopefully, the same staff.鈥� So, if he doesn鈥檛 lose his temper with staff who make blunders, what does get him going? Retentions. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a scandal because we are covered by insurance-backed guarantees 鈥� the sooner it鈥檚 outlawed the better,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 go to Sainsbury鈥檚, pick up a box of Special K and say 鈥業鈥檒l keep 10p back until two weeks after I鈥檝e eaten them鈥�.鈥� John Kieran
Structural steel

The impossible done now
鈥淗ello, can I speak to John Kiernan?鈥�
鈥沦辫别补办颈苍驳.鈥�
鈥淎h, Mr Kiernan, we鈥檙e thinking of building a stairway to heaven and I was wondering if Westcol would like to tender for the structural steelwork package.鈥� 鈥淵es, I don鈥檛 think that鈥檒l be a problem.鈥� As you may have gathered from this fictional exchange, John Kiernan鈥檚 Westcol specialises in structural steel. You will also have gleaned that Kiernan, Westcol鈥檚 business development director, stresses his firm鈥檚 鈥渃an do鈥� attitude. A somewhat similar, but factual, conversation led to selection to build Foster and Partners鈥� diabolically complicated headquarters for the Greater London Authority. Westcol defanged Foster by highlighting problems at the first meetings and then coming up with solutions at the second. 鈥淲e pride ourselves on being good, practical engineers,鈥� he says. On the negative side, Kiernan is unhappy about the low margins. 鈥淲e need to get away from bottom-dollar tendering and claiming back; we need to get people鈥檚 trust.鈥� Graham Wren
Foundations

Why can鈥檛 we talk about it?
Where do you see your main challenge: doing over your competitors or snuggling up to your clients? Graham Wren is clear where he stands. Competition is pointless and destructive, and so his Hampshire-based ground engineering contractor, Stent Foundations, is moving away from it. Wren, managing director of the 拢50m-turnover company, believes business is about building relationships 鈥� as he has been doing with Stent for the past five years. The bottom line, he says, is 鈥渘egotiated work鈥�. This allows the firm to 鈥渃onsider the business concerns of the clients and tailor what we have to offer them鈥�. The strange thing is that this is a sweet response to bitter experience. 鈥淪ome main contractors don鈥檛 understand subbies,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we are targeting clients to try and improve the way the industry works.鈥� Wren may not be a hard-nosed go-getter, but that hasn鈥檛 stopped Stent from growing to 400 employees, and plucking a plum job at the 拢2.5m Paternoster Square project in the City of London and another for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Aspirations to grandeur
Hare & Humpreys specialises in restoring the decoration in historic buildings. You know, the kind owned by Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. Peter Hare, the managing director, is not bashful about his firm鈥檚 unique selling point, which he pronounces with the aplomb, if not the accent, of Brian Sewell on a posh day: 鈥淥ur eye for detail distinguishes us from the other companies. We don鈥檛 just get it nearly right, but exactly right 鈥� and we can turn our hand to various aspect of decoration, from minimalist to ornamental painting and murals.鈥� The company is also keen to glamourise construction as a career, not as a last-resort for kids who mucked about in double physics. Hare lectures at college, he says (with a hint of noblesse oblige) 鈥渢o try and make kids realise they can aspire to this grandiose type of decoration鈥�. He takes on two or three apprentices a year and improves his 30 employees鈥� skills with day-release training. He is convinced that 鈥渢he worst thing is the invasion of unskilled people walking into the industry鈥�. And his grand ambition is 鈥渢o sift out the truly skilled from the DIY self-taught鈥�. Stef Stefanou
Concrete

The concrete godfather
Stef Stefanou does not so much chair concrete contractor John Doyle as preside over it. He has the demeanour of certain Italian-American character brought to the big screen by Marlon Brando. I should hastily add that no main contractors have so far found themselves in bed with a horse; in fact Stefanou believes the way forward for contractor鈥搒ubcontractor relations centres on the Egan initiative. He serves on the Movement for Innovation board and applauds clients such as Stanhope for their progressive approach. For its part, M4I, commended John Doyle for its innovative techniques and computer modelling. On the other hand, payment is still very much an issue. 鈥淭raditional contractors are trying to squeeze every penny they can out of us,鈥� he says. But then again, there are fewer of those than there were a while ago, and he genuinely believes that the industry has taken a giant leap in eradicating the problem. John Doyle is one of the giant specialists and Stefanou oversees 1200 employees and a group turnover of 拢150m. Liam Clear
Bricks

Generosity and enthusiasm
Liam Clear, director at the 拢5m-turnover Pyramid Bricks, takes everything to heart. Kind and spirited, he is that rather rare thing: a boss who can say his company is a caring, sharing business and actually mean it. 鈥淲hen a new person joins, I teach them all about the business, which gives them a greater sense of involvement in it.鈥� And they are well compensated for their troubles. At the end of each job, 6% of the company鈥檚 profit is shared between the 100 employees as a bonus on top of their regular salary. Clear鈥檚 generosity and enthusiasm is infectious. Each month, every employee donates 拢1 to charity. The total is matched by Pyramid. It is this sense of business ethics that makes recruiting people a breeze. 鈥淲e never need to advertise, and most employees stay for many years because the company is genuinely interested in their welfare.鈥� What do they do with all these people? Well, Pyramid鈥檚 most prestigious project will never see the light of day. For the past five years, it has been hammering away in the darkness on a 拢2.5m project to repair Westminster Palace鈥檚 vaults.

Do not underestimate
Imagine a cross between Norman Wisdom and your favourite uncle: that鈥檒l give you some feel for the personal style of Gordon Cowley. OK, now forget that image, because we are dealing with an established, well respected businessmen here, the managing director of Cowley Structural Timberwork. A quiet, apparently unassertive man, Cowley is unusual in a market notorious for brash talkers. His firm does the work that others can鈥檛. Whether it鈥檚 a 拢160,000 contract for the shells on the dome of the London School of Economics, or the pods for Will Alsop鈥檚 Peckham Library, Cowley knows that his competitive advantage lies in the niche market he has captured with his specialist designs. The firm has 45 employees and a turnover of 拢2m. Cowley says what differentiates him is that he is ready to take on the unusual and make it work. The worst thing about the industry is the mysterious paperwork. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so much that most of my day is spent trying to understand difficult documents or determining which enquiries are worth proceeding with.鈥� Ben Morris
ETFE

The Eden agenda
Funny what can be achieved with a simple, common-or-garden polymerisation of ethylene and tetrafluoroethylene monomers that anyone could make in their garden shed (with the necessary equipment). The fly鈥檚 eye domes of Eden, for instance. We are talking ETFE here, the transparent foil that has become the new glass, and we are talking Vector Special Products, the building systems firm that pioneered ETFE-based technology more than 20 years ago. Ben Morris, managing director of Vector, explains the advantage of such a long (and unprofitable) lead time. 鈥淓TFE needs about a 10-year learning curve,鈥� he says. 鈥淥thers have tried to use the technology and failed. We have to put these projects right to ensure the concept is kept intact.鈥� Morris names North West Thames Health Authority as his star client 鈥渂ecause they roofed the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, the largest naturally ventilated atrium in the world, with ETFE 鈥� a very brave decision, as the technology had only been used in the leisure industry鈥�. David Williams
Engineering

We have the technology
Every company has to mutate to survive, but a high-tech outfit that makes the wrong investment decision is like a giraffe that swaps its hooves for roller-skates. This may account for David Williams鈥� intense and serious manner: his company, Colt International, has made many key investments and acquisitions and has opened offices from Switzerland to Singapore in its 70-year history. Paul Hinkin, director of architect Chetwood Associates, describes Colt as 鈥渁n intelligent subbie鈥� for his commitment to R&D and product development. Colt has constantly reinvented itself to keep ahead of the competition: it started with industrial ventilation, added smoke control and now makes intelligent solar shading systems, used for example at Tate Britain. 鈥淲e brought the technical expertise and ability needed to that project. The electronics that went into it had to be very sophisticated to provide effective control and energy efficiency.鈥� Good communication and early involvement is essential if a project is to be successful, he says. 鈥淭he subcontractor鈥檚 view is important; the architect should realise what we have got to offer and not try and redesign everything.鈥�

Get Flavahan
Perhaps Tom Flavahan suspected an elaborate trap. Would the 鈥減hoto session鈥� end in his being bundled into the back of a white van and driven to a farm in Essex for a spot of energetic interrogation? Naturally, nothing was further from our minds, but Flavahan鈥檚 carefully guarded comments showed he wasn鈥檛 a man to take chances. Well, he has a good reason to watch what he says. His company, PC Harrington, is about to challenge steel鈥檚 domination of the high-rise building market. The 拢70m turnover concrete specialist is forming a joint venture with an Australian outfit that will combine expertise in slip-form concrete and post-tensioned floor slabs to create a complete solution for high-rise construction. So, surely Harrington鈥檚 construction director is bullish about the prospects of this revolutionary enterprise? Yes, he says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 about staying alive鈥�. Lance Rowell
Fabric structures

Full stretch
Engineers, as we know, are engineers because they were given Meccano sets as children. Which prompts the question: what did Lance Rowell play with as a child? A junior marquee erector set? He鈥檚 the managing director of Architen Landrell, the largest firm in Europe to specialise in designing, making and installing tensile fabric structures. Now he鈥檚 looking to unfurl an ambitious business plan: Rowell has set his sights on markets further afield. The merger in May this year between Architen and Landrell was a step towards this goal. 鈥淏oth companies realised that a merger would help them compete more effectively overseas,鈥� he says. With a turnover of 拢9m, the company already has a series of prestige projects (and the Millennium Dome) under its belt. Right now, the firm鈥檚 110 employees are busy on the design, manufacture and installation of a series of canopies for the new Vodafone Airtouch world headquarters building at Newbury in Berkshire. Roy Neild-Dumper
Precast concrete

Let鈥檚 make money!
Thinking of turning some bigshot architect鈥檚 whimsical doodle into a stunning landmark in flawless fairface concrete? Then don鈥檛 call Roy Neild-Dumper. He has learned a lot in his time with Composite Structures, and much of it has been about making money. The managing director cheerfully admits that his firm avoids prestigious projects 鈥� in fact, most of his company鈥檚 work relates to the design and supply of specialist structures in car parks 鈥� although he has just won a contract for the first PFI prison building in Liverpool. Working in precast concrete, Neild-Dumper claims to have limited competition and can differentiate his business because of it. With a 拢20m turnover and 50 employees, a typical project is a contract of about 拢1m lasting on site for eight to 12 weeks. On his loves and hates, Neild-Dumper says it is gratifying to work with clients, such as Frogmore Estates, that are committed to delivery even when there are problems. But he says (of course) that subcontractors are still abused by main contractors: the bane of his life is being paid too little, too late.

Racing colours
Mike Dawes is the chief executive of Miletrian, a 拢50m-turnover, 1200-employee business that covers fit-out, new build and facilities services, so, as you might expect, his main worry is horses. He loves them, and his company invests in their bloodlines. 鈥淢y greatest concerns are the horses coming back sound after a morning鈥檚 work,鈥� he says. This probably comes in useful when talking to such blue-blooded, blue-chip clients as JP Morgan, but Dawes鈥� main strategy for the 25-year-old multidisciplinary firm is partnering. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing that since day one,鈥� he says. But will your friends stand by you when the nights turn long and cold? Dawes can feel the chill of recession in the air, and he鈥檚 been cutting spending throughout the year. So what鈥檚 the good news? Specialists are no longer bullied by contractors. He says: 鈥淪pecialists abuse main contractors now 鈥� we鈥檙e cornering the market.鈥� Michael Downing
Precast concrete

Mr Precast Concrete
鈥淢ixing concrete with people is what we鈥檙e all about,鈥� says Mike Downing, sounding disquietingly like Al Capone. 鈥淎nd success comes down to choosing the right mix.鈥� In fact, he is simply explaining, with the focus and intensity of a successful car salesman, the success of his company, Trent Concrete, which he puts down to cementing relationships early in the project. 鈥淲e get on board before a contractor鈥檚 even appointed.鈥� He says the 拢12m-turnover company has bought heavily into the Egan principles, and looks after its own. Single-status employment, whereby all employees have the same employment terms, is a key factor in maintaining morale, and profit shares were introduced back in 1985. 鈥淲e connect customer satisfaction and job security,鈥� he says. 鈥淪atisfied customers come back and buy more, meaning our repeat business is very high.鈥� Barry Defalco
Electrical

Playing with the team
Picture the scene: 450 ft over the Thames, an icy wind sweeping down the estuary, the city miniaturised by distance but glowing with a million lights, the increasingly desperate race to meet the millennium deadline 鈥� 鈥滻t was very cold out over the river,鈥� says Barry Defalco, with stoical understatement. 鈥淚t was very demanding. And the work was intensive. And it was made worse by the fact that it didn鈥檛 go up on time.鈥� Quite. So what was it that got the director of TC Clarke out of bed in the morning and down to install the electrical services on the London Eye, the nightmare that became a triumph. 鈥淭eam spirit,鈥� says Defalco. He says he is working with his dream team, and that鈥檚 what gives his 拢98m-turnover firm the edge over its rivals. He doesn鈥檛 believe that there will be a recession 鈥渦nless we talk ourselves into one. And if we do, it will turn me into even more of a debt collector than I am already鈥�.

Extreme measures
Geoff Irvine is a bulldozer of a man. He likes to compare himself to a mafia boss and is not shy about throwing his weight around. But, he admits, this confrontational style gets things done. As head of 拢30m-turnover specialist stone and brick contractor Irvine Whitlock, Irvine feels he has to be tough and demands that all his management staff meet at his Bedford headquarters every Saturday morning to iron out problems. 鈥淚 only want people here that are going to be committed, and this is a way of determining that.鈥� Irvine takes the same head-on approach to the wider industry 鈥� which means he doesn鈥檛 have the same concerns as most specialist contractors when it comes payment problems. 鈥淚 have somebody phoning and checking contractors a week before I鈥檓 due to be paid, making sure we are going to get it on time,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 only deal with good payers.鈥� Irvine Whitlock has 45 staff and 500 paid operatives working on projects valued from about 拢1m to 拢15m, including a 拢12m contract for the Trafford Centre in Manchester. Mark Wilson
Steel

The wizard of Mero
鈥淲e鈥檙e a regular Pandora鈥檚 box, just full of surprises,鈥� boasts Mark Wilson, a senior projects manager at Mero Structures.
鈥淐ome again?鈥�
鈥淲e find solutions for the weird and the wonderful,鈥� he replies, with a mysterious smile, like some grand wizard. 鈥淚 guess there is an element of magic in what we do.鈥� Which is, he adds, spelling it out, discovering engineering solutions to complicated designs such as the Eden project. The firm has a turnover of between 拢12m and 拢15m, and business is booming, so Wilson鈥檚 not bothered about the spectre of recession. Bureaucracy, he says, is more of a worry and sometimes he feels like he is drowning in paperwork 鈥渓ike that character in Brazil鈥�. 鈥淧eople expect you to issue pieces of paper that in terms of the progress of the job actually achieve little,鈥� he says. He also thinks the industry is too aggressive, particularly 鈥渋n some areas there is still confrontational management rather than a solving management approach鈥�. Bill Tustin
Structural metalwork

Expect the unexpected
Give Bill Tustin half an hour in a junk yard and he鈥檒l probably start work on a basic orbiting space station. 鈥淗e knows more about steel and putting things together than any guy I鈥檝e ever met,鈥� says Matthew Wells, director of Techniker. This fascination for unexpected is reflected in his work. His architectural and metalwork firm, Littlehampton Welding, specialises in the design and installation of projects of an unusual nature. 鈥淲e get a thrill from doing something unique,鈥� he says with boyish enthusiasm. But that comes at a price: 鈥渢he heartache before we get things right鈥�. The biggest project with which the 拢9m turnover company has been involved was the construction of the movable boarding platform for the London Eye. 鈥淚t was fabulous. Although, at 拢3.5m, it was hardest job I鈥檝e ever worked on,鈥� he reflects. His favourite project was the floating bridge in London鈥檚 Docklands 鈥渨hich was fun from beginning to end鈥�. Gordon Stygalls
Stonework

Glamour and steel
Intense and edgy, Gordon Stygalls has the type of determination you would expect from someone involved in construction. And he also pulls a mean disappearing act 鈥� as our photographer found out. 鈥淵ou have to have nerves of steel in this business,鈥� says Stygalls, managing director of Mowlem Rattee & Kett, the specialist stone and restoration contractor. The 拢40m-turnover firm has worked on many prestigious projects, including the Houses of Parliament. As a subsidiary of Mowlem, it employs 170 staff, with a further 90 contract tradesmen. 鈥淚 get a buzz from seeing every job come to fruition and I think success comes from that feeling of inspiration,鈥� explains Stygalls. He can see glamour in every project: 鈥淎 typical job is the one we鈥檙e working on now, a 拢4m contract for Stowe School. It鈥檚 where Richard Branson went,鈥� he says, beaming.