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Showing items posted by Rob Guest - 20 found.

GPC74’S RURAL HEADQUARTERS UPGRADE TO FIBRE-TO-THE-PREMISES BROADBAND

GPC74’s Robin Guest was interviewed by Shropshire Biz Magazine

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NEW GPC74 FLEET

Delivery taken of new fleet vehicles to bring a bit of colour to the February roads. 

Thank you to the team at Furrow’s Ford Telford for their great service and being so helpful in accommodating all our requirements.

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CONSTRUCTION ENQUIRER 2017 AWARDS NIGHT

We attended the Awards Night at The Vox, Birmingham NEC on Tuesday 10th October 2017 as we had been shortlisted in the Top 10 for the “Best Main Contractor To Work For (Under £50 million)” category. Unfortunately we did not win, but the Construction Enquirer had a record number of nominations, so to be ranked within the Top 10 was an excellent accomplishment.

It was a very rewarding and enjoyable evening spending time with some of our team outside of work at such a great event. We would like to thank all our suppliers and employees that voted for us and submitted such wonderful comments about our Company.

 

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GPC74 ATTEND UK CONSTRUCTION WEEK 2017 – NEC BIRMINGHAM

 

 

 

At the UK Construction Week exhibition we attended various seminars, made contact with new suppliers and gathered information from various companies on areas that are currently hot topics within our business.

Improving and facilitating “Field to Office” communications via software and the cloud is an exceedingly important progression that we are currently investigating into. Up until August this year, due to the rural location of our Head Office, our internet was via satellite, which was satisfactory to a certain point, but restrictive when it came to speed, the effects of latency and download and upload capacity.

We now have fibre broadband directly connected to our premises and this is allowing us to look at cloud storage options and enhanced communications with our teams on site. In light of these upcoming changes we have recently invested into some iPad Pro tablets and we are already utilising various applications to improve exchanges of information between our clients, suppliers and office team.

The meets and greets at the exhibition were really useful as it gave us a flavour of what software packages are available and we shall now research into the best options and solutions for our business.

At the show we saw the Isuzu Pick-Up Trucks and this led us to investigate the practicality of this type of vehicle in our road fleet.  We usually purchase Commercial Discovery Land Rovers for our site managers, but due to the UK awaiting the release of the new model we have turned to the Pick-Up Truck to trial.  Since the event we have purchased a Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian, so we shall await reports back from our team as to whether this vehicle has made a good impression.

New Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian outside our Head Office ready to join the GPC74 road fleet

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GPC74 named as Finalists for the 2017 Construction Enquirer Awards

 

GPC74 have fought off the competition to be named as one of the top ten finalists for the 2017 Construction Enquirer Awards at UK Construction Week.  In October, we will find out if we have been voted the Best Main Contractor to Work For (Under £50m) in the industry.

The Construction Enquirer Awards are dedicated to recognising and rewarding the best companies to work for and do business with.

Our staff and suppliers were invited to give their opinions on working for GPC74 and it was recognised that the Company deserved recognition for their family ethics and values, in particular from our leadership team who offer support and advice whenever required. 

 

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GPC74 achieve Safecontractor Accreditation 2017 – 2018

We are continually reviewing and committed to maintaining our accreditations and we are pleased to announce that we have received approval as a Safecontractor Accredited Contractor again this year.  

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GPC74 is awarded ‘Best Overall Contractor 2016’ by Wyevale Garden Centres Ltd

GPC74 Ltd have won the ‘Wyevale Overall Best Contractor 2016’ award from Wyevale Garden Centres Ltd (WGCL) at the ‘Wyevale Health and Safety Contractors Day’ held on the 18th January 2017. 

This is a fantastic achievement for us, and it is great to be recognised as the Company providing the best Health and Safety, above all of the other Contractors who work for WGCL.

Well done to all members of our staff, both out on site and in the office for your commitment and hard work to maintain high standards of health and safety.  This is an area of our work where we all pull together as team, and this award is proof of what we can achieve when we do.

This reward was not the only achievement from the Health and Safety Contractors Day, but GPC74 Managing Director, Louis Purchase, was up against other contractors in the Wyevale Mastermind Competition and won this by a clear margin.

This recognition shows our continued commitment to high health and safety standards in every project that we carry out.

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BUILDER & ENGINEER AWARDS 2016 – A MEMORABLE NIGHT AT ANFIELD – NOVEMBER 30TH 2016

GPC74’S Head Office, Upper Baveney Park has been nationally recognised and shortlisted as ‘Commercial Project of the Year’.

After considering projects that we had completed for our clients, we recognised that our own building met the Building & Engineer’s Awards criteria for this category perfectly.

We were shortlisted, along with 2 other projects which were substantially larger than ours; the new Anfield Stadium Main Stand Expansion constructed by Carillion, and a large, swanky office development in Cheshire.

Even though we were scored a very respectable 8 out of 10 against the criteria, when we were ascending the five flights of escalators to the Awards Room in the new Anfield Main Stand, we just knew that we may have been pipped to the post. Anfield Stadium went on to not only to win this category, but also the overall ‘Judges Choice’ on the evening.

We are so proud of our achievement, as not only have we built a fantastic Head Office that has provided a fantastic and nurturing environment for our businesses, but it has been recognised nationally as one of the top three Commercial Projects of 2016.

 

 A photo opportunity for us with the FA Cup in the Builder & Engineer’s Awards Room at Anfield Stadium

GPC74’s Louis Purchase, Emma Purchase, Charlotte Swinbourne and Angie Moss

 

The development works were carried out in between our busy work schedule, using our employees and contractors that work with us throughout the year on a diverse range of projects across the UK.

We have transformed a former pig farm into bright, modern office and unit space, yet the new building retains an agricultural feel externally that reminds us of its history. The offices and units are being utilised by our own businesses, and soon other local enterprises will occupy some of the unit space too.

The Business Park will be completed over time, but for now we have made a huge and positive impact on the site, and it has already provided a fantastic, nurturing working environment.  It is so important to the progression of our business that we can proudly invite our suppliers and customers to our Head Office, showcase our work and facilitate a “meet and greet”, which we find so beneficial in building and maintaining strong relationships.

 

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**Excellent** Site Safety Inspection Report For Gravity Sewer Works, Lincolnshire

In October 2016 we completed the installation of a 550 metre gravity main to connect Wold’s View Garden Centre, Lincolnshire, to the Anglian Water sewer network. The majority of the install was along the highway and a license to open the road and install the new pipework was agreed with Lincolnshire County Council. Their visiting inspector scored us 5 on their ‘Highways and Traffic Site Safety Inspection Report’ which indicates ‘Excellent site with proactive safety culture evident, complying with all requirements’. External recognition and assessment is extremely important to us and reaffirms our company’s commitment to outstanding standards of safety on site.

This site had a failed private system which required an urgent permanent solution to avoid costly daily tankering fees. A below ground external grease separator was also installed during the project to limit the amount of fat, oil and grease entering the mains system and protect the downstream assets and environment.

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GPC74’s Upper Baveney Park shortlisted for Commercial Project of The Year at the Builder & Engineer Awards 2016

Our recently completed head office at Upper Baveney Park has been shortlisted for Commercial Project of The Year at the Builder & Engineer Awards 2016.  We are all proud that our building has been recognised as a project finalist for this national award.

Over the last year we have transformed the former redundant pig farm into bright, modern office and unit space, yet the new building retains an agricultural feel externally that reminds us of its history. The offices and units are now being utilised by our own business, and soon other local enterprises will occupy some of the unit space too. 

The development works have been carried out in between our already busy work schedule, using our employees and contractors that work with us throughout the year on a diverse range of projects across the UK. Due to this, there is a great sense of ownership for the staff, and a great deal of satisfaction in what has been achieved.

In just 12 months since the start of the build, the site has been made safe, useable and aesthetically pleasing, and is already enabling our own business to build better relationships with our existing Customers by inviting them for ‘meet and greets’, and to start the ball rolling with new Customers as we have a shining example of our work right here at our new Head Office.

Part of the Planning Conditions meant that we were required to improve the local road network to include a new HGV turning area at a nearby highway junction, and new passing bays on the local lane.

The site was over populated with old farm building with many pinch points for vehicular access. Within the design process we removed buildings to allow access to the new units and site as a whole. The gradients were challenging as the levels from the front to rear of the site fell over 1.5 metres, and from left to right decreased over 2 metres – this dictated that we had to reduce levels to the front, and build large retaining walls to the one side of the site. By doing this we have allowed access to all sides of the buildings and installed a new road around the site.

For our own business, it has allowed consolidation and the potential to expand, which in turn will create jobs for local people in a rural community where employment opportunities are very limited.

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