A Message from our MD

This is the start of another extremely busy year. After all the challenges thrown at us over the last two years, hopefully, we will be able to concentrate on delivering high quality contracts unencumbered by external issues. Now that everyone is more familiar with all the new systems and procedures which have been brought in, we will see the benefits in their use to manage all aspects of our contracts and the associated back office administration. We will be handling more high value contracts which will challenge our ability to meet our clients’ expectations, but I am confident that we will meet this challenge.

Our staffing levels continue to grow and we welcome all the new recruits. Sadly, as with all organisations, we also have to say goodbye to a few. Steve Groom, in particular, will be sorely missed.

There are too many new opportunities to mention but I want to thank all the teams for their dedication in helping to secure new work which is the life blood of the company. Similarly, there have been outstanding performances from those involved in our contracts. Also, those of you involved in the administration have been extremely busy ensuring that our financial processes are operating smoothly. Many of you have gone above and beyond to meet deadlines and given up your valuable time, especially over the Christmas and New Year break, in the process. I thank you all for your dedication and commitment.

There have been, and will continue to be, changes and developments within the business and I would ask you all to embrace these and continue to operate with the professionalism you have shown in the past.

Thank you.

HDS Welcomes New Network 75 Apprentice, Emmanuel Smith

We would like to offer a warm welcome to Emmanuel Smith, who has joined HDS as a Network 75 Apprentice. Emmanuel will be mentored by HDS Managing Director, Ken Gale, and is based at the 1 Central Park office in Bridgend. Alongside on-the-job training, Emmanuel is studying for his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Wales. Since a young age, Emmanuel was curious about how things work and dreamt of becoming an engineer. He became interested in mechanical engineering and worked hard to gain the qualifications and work experience needed to pursue this career, qualifying with a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering. Attracted to the combined study and work benefits offered by the Network 75 scheme, Emmanuel is now looking forward to reaching his full potential with HDS.

Pleased to Welcome New Accounts Team Member, Deborah Evans

We are pleased to announce the arrival of new Purchase Ledger Clerk, Deborah Evans. Deborah brings with her over 30 years’ experience of purchase ledger and accounts experience. She will be working closely with all members of the Accounts department and is based at the head office in Bridgend. Outside of work, Deborah is a proud Grandmother of 5 children who enjoys family time. She enjoys gardening in the warmer months and spending weekends caravanning in West Wales. Please join us in welcoming Deborah to her new role.

Hurley (Exeter) Delighted to Welcome Katerina Lewis to the Team

Hurley (Exeter) are thrilled to welcome aboard Katerina Lewis as Accounts Assistant. Katerina, who is originally from Czech Republic, will be working out of the Exeter office and her responsibilities include accounts support and administration for the subsidiary company. In her own time, Katerina enjoys family time, cooking and keeping active. With her great attitude and enthusiasm, she is a fantastic addition to the team. Welcome, Katerina!

Client Experience Feedback

We’re delighted to share with you the positive feedback from our valued clients which is a true testament to all your hard work and efforts.

St Joseph’s Hospital, Newport – An Incredible Achievement

We want to say a huge thank you to the team that delivered the works at St Joseph’s Hospital in Newport during the Christmas break. The team gave up their time during the Christmas shut down to deliver the ward refresh programme to an extremely tight deadline. Thank you to Tony Smith and Richard Williamson for delivering both the theatre works and ward refresh programme. Special recognition must go to the site team that gave up all but four days of their Christmas break (two of which were the weekend)- Andrew Teall, Rhys Budd, Adrian Page, Neil Collins, John Kearns, Richard Duckfield, Nigel Clarke and Lee Budd.

Others that also worked on the project during the Christmas break included Joshua Burridge, Lewis Reynolds, Ian Gunner, Cameron Thomas, Jon Gaywood, Keegan Thomas and Derrick Evans. The entire team worked long hours during the break, often forfeiting time spent with family during the festive period so that the works were delivered on time.

Since returning to work, the project required further weekend working and our thanks go to Paul Wookey, Sean Grabham, Paul Webb, Owyn Poole, Jordan Budd and Dave Perry who worked late into the night to ensure its timely completion.

Also, thank you to the HTIC team who were on site throughout the Christmas break- thank you to Mark Horrigan, Andrew Dowsell, Ben Canham, Gavin Beecham, Matthew Richards and Richard Webb.

In recognition of all the hard work of our supply chain and the essential role they played on the project, we also thank Dean Hyde, Kevin Hoey, Parker Environmental, BBM Control Systems, Phillips Services, MES, Nova Flooring, Thermal Solutions and HTIC.

As we planned the works for Christmas we all became increasingly aware of the enormity of what we were asking. What we set out to achieve over 3 weeks was incredible. It was even more incredible to have achieved it. The spirit and commitment of your staff and your contractors was commented on by all involved this end. We were also very pleased with how everyone worked together, especially on the final weekend with the call to action of SJH staff moving equipment and cleaning as FPH finished off the job. The feedback from everyone in St Joseph's has been brilliant. A thoroughly impressive effort. Many thanks to all.

Bjorn Rodde

Operations Manager, St Joseph’s Hospital

Calorifier Works Llandough Hospital

Also in the healthcare sector, Cardiff & Vale University Health Board thanked the team that carried out the recent Calorifier Works at Llandough Hospital in Cardiff. Our thanks go to Darren Paul, Mike Smitheram, Stuart Jones, Jay McCarron, and Lloyd Paul for a job well done.

Just a quick e-mail to appreciate the works carried out at Llandough Hospital, your team have gone above beyond to complete the works with minimal disruption including many night shut downs. They are a credit to your company and we will look forward to working with you in the future.

Anthony Davies

Mechanical Supervisor, Capital, Estates and Facilities

South Wales Police - Police Learning Centre and Gymnasium Building

Loyal client South Wales Police have continued to express their sincere gratitude for an exceptional level of service on both the Police Learning Centre project, which is nearing completion, and Gymnasium building which has been successfully handed over.

Professional photos of the installation are soon being carried out and we will share these with you in future Newsletters.

We successfully achieved Practical Completion yesterday afternoon, the customer was thrilled with the finished product. Can I just say a huge thanks to everyone involved who contributed at some stage of the project, I know it has been a challenging few years for many reasons (started during a pandemic to name a few). This was truly a great example of a collaborative one team approach and a project that all should be proud of with everyone pulling together to get the project over the line whilst delivering such a quality robust product. Once again thanks for all your hard efforts and see you on the next one.

Dafydd Morris MSc ICIOB

Construction Manager, Willmott Dixon

I’d like to take the time to thank you for the perseverance you have all shown and the high level of quality produced to make this building outstanding. Considering the economic climate in which this was built it certainly is a credit to all involved. Please would you pass this forward to your supply chains as they need recognition of what they have achieved.

Chris Purchase

Operations Manager, Willmott Dixon

Supervisor Development Programme

Well done to Jack Medwin who managed the Gymnasium building as Supervisor for the first time. Jack participated in Willmott Dixon’s Supervisor Development Programme and showed a consistent improvement in his abilities throughout the project. By the end of the project Willmott Dixon awarded Jack a fully ‘green status’ meaning they were confident he was able to complete all required tasks independently without support and to an excellent standard. Jack’s willingness to learn and commitment to deliver a quality job were both admirable. Congratulations, Jack.

The Supervisor Development Programme will be implemented on all Willmott Dixon projects going forward, and involves mentoring and assessment in the following:

Communication- being an active management team member
Health and safety
Quality standards
Planning and control of operations
Training and development

SQMAS Quality Management- ‘Excellent’ Client Feedback Forms

Collecting client feedback through our Customer Feedback forms allows us to keep track of the extent to which our service meets the expectations and needs of our clients. This systematic process, which forms part of our SQMAS quality management processes, allows us to continually measure our customer’s needs and expectations.

We want to share with you some recent Customer Feedback forms which rated our overall service as excellent- these include Centre For Student Life at Cardiff University for BAM, the SPECT CT project for Swansea Bay University Health Board, Police Learning Centre and Gymnasium for South Wales Police and the Tywyn Primary School project for Neath Port Talbot Council, who commented:

“Nothing was too much trouble, extremely mindful of the school environment and kept a close relationship with the school throughout. Very clean and tidy. Excellent service.”

Paul Barham Starts Role as Apprentice Mentor

We’re pleased to say that Paul Barham has started his new role as Apprentice Mentor, which involves working closely with all our L2 and L3 Heating and Ventilation apprentices at all stages of their apprenticeship journey.

Undertaking an apprenticeship is a significant commitment to skills development both on the part of the apprentice and the employer. It is crucial for employers to have an effective mentoring programme in place that provides professional support and guidance from within the workplace.

Paul will be working with all pre-enrolled and enrolled apprentices within the company to support their training progression and practical skills development. For the apprentices themselves having an experienced mentor on-site, who is appointed to pass on their skills and guide their learning, is invaluable.

Paul will help ensure the apprentices are where they should be in terms of skills development and our apprentices will benefit from the counsel of a more experienced professional.

Paul, pictured above with apprentice Dafydd Jones, reports that supporting apprentices has always been one of the most rewarding aspects of the job, and he is looking forward to coaching each apprentice, passing on his practical skills and experience built up over the years.

Contract Wins

We’re pleased to announce that during December 2021 and January 2022 we’ve been awarded over £2 million worth of contracts. This includes several projects at Morriston Hospital in Swansea from clients T R Jones, Vital Energi and Phillips Services, and also at Singleton Hospital with an order directly from Swansea Bay University Health Board.

We also secured further work at the National Museum of Wales of Cardiff and are currently on site carrying out the boiler replacement works for the Museum. Other orders received include the Sovereign Centre in Weston Super Mare from Bray and Slaughter and also design works for the Crown Student Living residences development in Nottingham from Winvic.

Contract Completions

A number of contracts have successfully completed recently and our thanks go to the project managers and teams involved. Congratulations to Euan Jones who successfully completed Pencoedtre High School recently, a flagship project that has created a new and inspiring learning environment for pupils and teachers in Barry.

Also successfully handed over to a very happy client was the South Wales Police Gymnasium building, well done to Anthony Isaac on a project delivered to an exceptional standard. Further congratulations go to Neil Higgins and Conway Jones, for completing the Swansea Bay Technology Centre and Frank’s Ice Cream projects.

Announcements

Happy Birthday Wishes

Happy birthday to all our employees who have January and February birthdays. Many happy returns to Vicki Allen, Morgan Boobyer, Richard Duckfield, Matthew Duckfield, Mark Fielding, Stuart Jones, Owain Lewis, Strone March, Jay McCarron, Paul Milne, Joel Rendell, Andrew Watson, John Carter, John Davies, Matthew Evans, Neil Joseph, Claire Pilcher, Simon Luff, Kevin Mills, Chris O’Neill, Robert Pengelly, Carly Rose and Paul Wookey. We hope you have a great day.

Years of Service Recognition

Congratulations Andrea Kiernan, who is celebrating her 10 year work anniversary with the company this month. We value and appreciate all your hard work and thank you for 10 years of dedicated service. Also this month, Liam Bradley has reached his 5 year milestone and it’s great to see him develop his career path with the company and foster new experiences and opportunities with enthusiasm.

Proud to Continue Supporting the Lighthouse Club

We are proud to continue supporting the Lighthouse Club Construction Industry Charity that does so much valuable work to support workers in our industry that are in distress. We are proud to support the Help Inside The Hard Hat campaign. Read more here.

Key Dates

25 March to 10 April 2022

Save the Date- Spring Clean Cymru 2022

We’re excited to announce that we’ll be taking to the streets, parks and beaches again this year to take part in Keep Wales Tidy’s Spring Clean Cymru event, which will take place from 25^th March to 10^th April 2022. Keep an eye out for an email with details of how you can get involved this year.

3 February 2022

Time to Talk Day

Time to Talk Day is a national mental health awareness day run by charity Mind and Rethink Mental Illness. The day is about creating a supportive community by having conversations with friends, family or colleagues about mental health. To find out more or how you can take part, visit their website.