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THE DIG ISSUE THE SPRING EDITION 2023
OUR BUSINESS OVERVIEW We have had a challenging Winter period through managing the slowdown on site builds and the season-al weather. This period resulted in us unfortunately having to reduce our site teams and in many areas having standing plant; never ideal. The medium term outlook in this period remained prey posive for us; and our clients were all talking well of our company and promising many new schemes once the planning process and the market al-lowed. Due to these assurances we were able to: • Connue our investment in the new plant throughout this year (in excess of £30m) and we have not cancelled any of our new machines/ vans orders; 250+ diggers alone arriving this year. • Move ahead with the purchase of our new oce near Warrington/ Manchester. Late November through to mid January was one of the slowest periods we have had with new work and whilst tendering was franc there was some concern on when / if clients were going to start to invest in new sites/ infrastructure. The “win” oodgates opened with our long term client Taylor Wimpey Solihull at Stourport. This oce have been a really close partner of ours for many years and it was great to see this relaonship ourish again. From that point onwards we have ended up with: • January: £42m of wins with sites in Peterborough (Morris); Coseley (Persimmons); Hyde (Wainhomes); and as menoned Stourport with Taylor Wimpey. • February: £51m of wins with highlights being Cala in Newbury, Vistry in Royston and Oxford; and Taylor Wimpey (North Mids) in Bromsgrove. • March: £50m work secured with a large scheme from Persimmons in Lawley; a new client Seddon in Congleton; Taylor Wimpey in Colney; and more phases of work with Bloors Western. • April to date: £45m+ including two more great sites with Bellway South Mids in Bromsgrove; and another site in Newbury, this me with Persimmons. On top of this we think we are knocking on the door of a further £140m of wins in the next quarter which would in broad terms mean that our wins are exceeding our turnover by around 25%. This is really im-portant as sites are building slower (due to Sales); thus we need more outlets to return our turnover to the £450m+ business we expect to be at the end of this year. The Company wants to connue to grow organically; with no debt; and ulise the development of the people within the business to meet our gradual growth expectaons. As ever; we know that we are only a few bad decisions away from an accident on any of our sites. We work in a high risk business and we want to be mindful that we must keep training and developing our site teams / management in order to be the contractor of choice for our clients. All the above is meaning-less if we get this area of our work wrong. Please always put safety rst and if ever things don’t feel right we urge all site teams to stop work; and review the method of work / environment and equipment and only connue when everything is how it has been planned. Please work safe and keep that quality drive that is making us the contractor of choice for many great cli-ents. Wishing you all a great Spring and Summer ahead.
OUR HEALTH & SAFETY Near Miss Reporng From mid-March we are introducing a new Near Miss reporng procedure that will allow site teams/oce sta to report near misses anonymously. What is a Near miss? A near miss is an unplanned event that did not result in injury, hazard, or damage but had the potenal to do so. How does reporng help? Near misses should be viewed as an opportunity to improve safety and prevent accidents or injury in the future. How do we know this? Data shows that near misses can eventually contribute to accidents. By reporng them early it can help us implement further improvements / work processes to help prevent reoccurrences. All construcon sites and regional oces will be issued with an informaon poster on how to report a near miss. There are 2 opons available: You will not be required to give your name in either of the opons above unless you want to. Please re-member, you can always inform your line manager or a member of the SHE Team of a near miss as an alternave. Opon1: Using the QR code on the poster, this will direct you to our website where you will be able to complete some basic quesons: Site name, region, near miss details and any correcve acons you think may have helped avoid the near miss Opon 2: By calling 0330 022 5288, answered by a 3rd party call centre operator who will ask a few simple quesons (as per opon 1) to enable them to log the near miss in the same way. “ Everyone Home Unharmed Everyday “
HOW WE HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE Plant & Hire Aid Alliance We are delighted to be members of the Plant & Hire Aid Alliance, a group of like minded businesses throughout the UK acng together to support the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Birmingham Children’s Hospital We were invited to the Birmingham Children’s Hospital for a tour around to show the impact our donaons have contributed to over the years. On the 1st July 2023, a team of 17 rowers from Head Oce will be taking part in a Dragon Boat Race against other companies on the canal, next to the Mailbox in Birmingham. Cranmore Primary School As part of our partnership with our local primary school, we have gied another 240 Easter Eggs to every child at Cranmore Primary School Anchor Point—Phase 2 Building Project 100% of Anchor Point business proceeds support recovering lives in Betel and supporng the homeless and disadvantaged. Anchor Point is a dynamic, one-of-a-kind community outreach and skills-training centre in Birmingham, a praccal, caring response to the complex needs of inner city lives. The vision is to create a thriving community hub that integrates seven family friendly businesses, each serving the public (including Hair salon, restaurant, so play area and arts arena). Simultaneously, these social enterprises deliver a range of employment skills and addicons-recovery training, all under one roof.
OUR PLANT AND FLEET Fuel Cards Please ensure you are all using the Keyfuels app when searching for a staon that accepts the card. We conn-ue to complete regular compliant checks on fuel cards and vehicles. Any misuse of fuel cards, will lead to dis-ciplinary acon or dismissal. Ford Pro We are pleased to announce that Ford Pro is now in operaon for our eet of commercial vehicles. This gives us real me data on servicing and maintenance requirements for all of our vans and also includes preventave informaon, such as Ad-Blue issues etc. Some drivers may receive a phone call and be asked to complete a simple process in order for your van to transmit this data to the Ford Pro system. If any of you require help in doing this when asked, please contact the eet department on 01604 586702 who will be able to assist by phone. Fuel & Ad-Blue Contaminaon Across the business we are having lots of issues with Fuel and Ad-Blue contaminaon. There are a few simple steps we should be following to minimise contaminaon (and downme on site): - Do not leave refuelling hoses in tanks. - Ensure Ad-Blue lling hose and nozzle are kept o the ground. - Close / lock tanks when not in use. We are also nocing some sites sll not administering the blue Fuel Dye. Please rest assured, the Fuel Dye has been thoroughly assessed by our SHE Team and has exactly the same hazard idencaons as normal diesel. The same PPE should be worn when adding blue dye as refuelling a machine. If you have any quesons or require any further informaon, please contact the SHE team directly.
ON THE GROUND Client & Industry Expectaons The Industry slow down has enabled us to put even more emphasis on H&S, Quality, and Service. The NHBC have increased their presence and inspecons. H&S, Quality, Presentaon and Build Environment are the major factors being discussed and expectaons are to be nothing but our highest standards. RIs and BRIs are all now being used as a tool to monitor the quality of workmanship, which allows transparency on where the issues lie. It’s important we connue to focus on quality and eciency on programmes, as this will inevitably contribute in securing further work. Key focus areas: 1. Health & Safety 2. Build Environment – clean and dy 3. Oversites and works areas fully completed and clean from any excess materials 4. Clean and safe running routes, TM Plans, and walkways 5. Material storage areas 6. Street scenes 7. Waste Management The drive to help assist the client’s sales teams is a major talking point as many developments are struggling to sell with the current economic climate. Half year compleons are nearly upon us and the CML process is a huge factor in assisng in sales. The expectaons are that the plot and all associated works areas are 100% completed. This so a potenal buyer could move into the plot immediately. Planning is key to assisng our clients and ensuring their buyers move into the best environment possible.
SOME OF OUR RECENT WORK Ledbury Client: Barra Homes West Midlands & David Wilson Homes Mercia 322 10,344 Roads (m2) Number of plots Years on site so far > 5
OUR BUSINESS UPDATES OUR COMPANY VALUES Safety - Safety is at the pinnacle of our operaon and should never be compromised. Our People - Aract the right talent and empower our people to achieve their fullest potenal. Integrity - loyal, honest, and trustworthy in all we do. Make a dierence - we share our resources, me, experse, and energy to posively impact people’s lives. Pursue Excellence - Strive to always be beer. Hold ourselves to the highest professional and ethical standards in every aspect of our work. Internaonal Women's Day This year we celebrated internaonal women’s day. Hear from some of our Women below: “…Each women’s success should be an inspira-on to another…” “…Through the opportunies and guidance MVK have given me, I have felt empowered and pushed to be the best I can, regardless of gender…” “…In my 5 years at MVK I have always been surrounded by strong women…” Pictured: Kelly Linne (Finance Director), Alix Francis (Senior QS), Jusna Sriubaite (Assistant Accountant)
OUR OFFICE UPDATES Sage HR System Sage HR is now up and running, here you are able to book me o, manage absences and view your payslips. If you haven't already we recommend downloading the mobile app to receive nocaons—you will nd this in your app store ‘Sage HR’ If you have any ques-ons about the new system. Please speak with HR directly. Wellbeing Commiee We have recently set up a Wellbeing Commiee. The term wellbeing refers to the experience of overall health. It encompasses good mental, physical, nan-cial and social health. This is something we are commied to, which will enable us to further support our employees. The commiee will plan, promote and implement wellness iniaves for employees to improve their men-tal and physical health. Windows 11 Update The ongoing eorts to migrate all company laptop users from Windows 10 to Windows 11 connues una-bated. Most users at head oce have now been transferred and we will soon be making arrangements to include site and remote oces workers. Please wait to be contacted before aempng any upgrades. Company Shared Folders There has been a sharp increase in the volume of data held within the company shared folders. The amount of data we hold can potenally have a negave impact on server performance, data backup and disaster recovery. Please bear this in mind if you do use the shared area to save your documents and remember to delete any unnecessary les.
OUR OFFICE UPDATES Open Vacancies Upcoming Bank Holidays • Monday 1st May • Monday 8th May • Monday 29th May Posion Region Strategic Buying Manager Head Oce CAD Technician Head Oce IT Support & Infrastructure Technician Head Oce Trainee Quanty Surveyor Oxford Quanty Surveyor East Plant Fier West Midlands We would like to encourage and oer the chance for internal applicaons within the business. If you are interested in applying for any current roles, please speak with your line manager. Employee Referral Scheme If you know of anyone who you think may be suited to the posions, please advise for their CV and contact details to be forwarded to mvkrecruitment@mvkelly.co.uk stang the posion of interest.