Our recent staff update meeting reported on progress in 2017 to date.
Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick opened the meeting on 22 June. He welcomed ten new members of staff – nine of them to newly-created posts. He also congratulated senior resourcer Jana Romanova, section engineer Bobby Hayre and recruitment support co-ordinator Lewis Mould on their promotions.
Healthy sales
Laurence Mckidd, VGC Group managing director, reported on successes in the first half of 2017. We experienced healthy sales, with particularly strong performances for Labour South, Rail Projects and Construction.
We achieved a new ISO accreditation in January. ISO 9001 2015 demonstrates our commitment to involving staff in identifying all risks. It will drive further improvements in health and safety as well as in business generally.
We are well placed to win further contracts on the next phase of HS2 (West Midlands to Crewe) having already demonstrated our worth at the start of phase 1.
These are exciting times for VGC. The sheer size of the HS2 projects is likely to have a significant impact on us, particularly added to other major new projects including the Birmingham tram.
Divisional updates
Despite a tough start to the year with delays to contracts, VGC Personnel has placed people on HS2, Gatwick, and the Birmingham tram.
VGC Construction has had healthy sales so far this year, securing four new clients and five new frameworks.
VGC Rail Projects has exceeded budgeted sales, with successful project deliveries and good relationships with key suppliers.
Labour Solutions Scotland has a strong team based in the Glasgow office, which continues to support the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP) and Glasgow airport.
Labour Solutions north has secured new work with some of our major clients, and continues to be a key supplier to Sellafield.
Labour Solutions south has enjoyed sales ahead of budget. We are involved in Highways England projects as well as the final Crossrail project at Plumstead depot.
Cole Hire has achieved a record number of customer deliveries, and lutons and fridges are fully booked until the end of July.
Group Services
Ciara Pryce, VGC Group Services director, reported on an investment of £500k in new technology over the next 12 months. This includes Salesforce customer relationship management software, and the planned upgrade to the finance system.
We have also invested in training. Four people are currently on management courses run by Cranfield university and others will be on courses later this year.
Staff were reminded of the need to maintain security online, particularly when opening attachments or downloading files. If in doubt, call IT!
We ran a staff diversity survey to help us finalise our three-year EDI plan. Kimberley McGinty is leading our women in construction programme, as well as liaising with schools on encouraging pupils to study STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
Our crop of awards so far this year includes ongoing Costain Blue status and the Crossrail Anglia subcontractor of the month shield in March and April. In addition, we have been shortlisted for the Construction News Diversity award.
Staff were reminded to read the monthly enews bulletins to keep up-to-date with news from our offices and sites. Please send news items to Zena Wigram, marketing manager.
Five-year long service awards were presented to Nick Wells, John Hannan, David Russell, Bob Webb and Stephen Langford, while Lisa Cronin was recognised for 10 years’ service.
Download a pdf version of the slides (1mb pdf) from the update meeting here.
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