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WILLIE’S WELCOME
W M Donald wins ‘Business of the Year’ at the Northern Star Business Awards
The Northern Star Business Awards are organised by the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce. They cover all industries including oil and gas, the service sector and information technology.
W M Donald was proud to win ‘Business of the Year 2018’ at the awards in September. Ian Gray accepted the award on behalf of everyone at W M Donald:
‘Whilst the award is recognition of our growth and development over the past five years, I’d also like to think that it reflects the vital contribution of the wider construction community to the Aberdeen economy.’
ISO Recertification
In 2015 W M Donald simultaneously achieved ISO 14001 (Environmental), ISO 9001 (Quality) and OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety) accreditations.
Compliance with the approvals is audited every year, but in the third year full recertification is
required.
On30thJulyWM Donald successfully achieved recertification in all three areas. The new certification expires
in 2018.
Many thanks to Eilidh Cameron, HR and HSEQ Compliance Manager, for all her hard work in preparing
Ian Gray accepting the Business of the Year Award 2018 from Alex Hynes of ScotRail Alliance, the category sponsor.
for the recertification.
The last six months have been quiet in terms of headlines. There’s not much media mileage in ‘Company increases turnover by effectively delivering enabling and groundworks for a portfolio of major clients’! From a management perspective, however, this is good news and shows that the process, systems and HSEQ changes we have been implementing over the past 18 months are bedding in. Payment delays, however, remain an issue in a quiet market where stock turn of housing units is partly driven by buy backs.
One of my personal bugbears, and an area in which I feel the industry in general is failing the public, is the trend for snagging issues to be raised on groundworks and infrastructure after the roads have been surfaced and hardscaping completed. Far too often we are being asked to dig up newly laid roads and landscaping to deal with minor and often trivial issues that could have been addressed with minimal inconvenience far earlier in the project. One solution could be for the client to sign off works before surfacing takes place. It would certainly reduce the patchwork quilt of resurfacing scars that blight even the most recent developments.
The environmental impact of plastics is high profile at the moment. There is an article in the newsletter on this subject and an opportunity for staff, suppliers and clients alike to propose ways in which we can use plastics more effectively. Environmental decisions, however, are subject to the laws of economics just like any other decision. I have just placed an order for 19 new Renault vans for delivery in April. Ideally, I would love to have introduced some electric vans (e-vans) into the fleet, but the 120-mile range, long charge times, high initial purchase price and unknown resale values mean there is still a long way to go before they become financially and operationally attractive.
Ironically, our new headquarters building should be completed by the second quarter of 2019 and will include charging points for electric vehicles. Other environmental features include solar panels, triple-glazed windows, high-spec insulation and an air source heat pump. The building layout is primarily open plan and will provide more spacious and comfortable working conditions for our engineering, commercial and technical support teams.
Finally, whilst driving for further efficiency gains and commercial effectiveness, it’s important we take the time to celebrate our successes. Everybody in the W M Donald team and wider family of clients, sub-contractors and suppliers can be rightly proud of their contribution to our winning
Business of the Year at the Northern Star 2018 Business Awards. It is satisfying to see the ‘unfashionable’ construction industry
coming out on top in a region where oil and gas tends to
dominate the headlines.
I wish everyone a safe and happy Christmas with their families.
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WILLIE