Page 2 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Twelve

EWAN’S WELCOME
Welcome to the Christmas 2021 edition of the W M Donald magazine.
2021 has certainly been a difficult year. I am extremely proud of how everyone in the business has risen to the challenges we have faced.
Unfortunately, we have not seen the last of Covid 19 and it is likely to remain a concern for the foreseeable future. Post-Brexit issues are far from settled. They will continue to affect our supply chain resulting in material and parts shortages that will stretch through 2022 and beyond. Despite these issues we have continued to develop our market share across our trading sectors, and our turnover has returned to pre-pandemic levels. We are cautiously optimistic for continued growth in 2022.
There have been many highlights in 2021, many of which feature in the magazine. We have opened an office in Perth; added a second suction excavator to our fleet; created a second surfacing team supported by investment in two new Volvo pavers; added a new Cappellotto tanker to our drainage services fleet; celebrated Graham Bias winning Site Manager of the Year at the Trades Awards; and, added the Sustainability in Construction Award for good measure.
During the year we have welcomed many excellent new people to the business including John Campbell (Surfacing Manager), Linsi Crocker (Transport Manager), Stephen Millar (Drainage Services Manager) and John Wills (Site Manager). You can learn about them in the pages of this newsletter and our Spring 2022 edition.
We are extremely proud of our apprenticeship and green vest schemes, championed and developed by Ian Gray, Rachel O’Donnell and Craig Hunter. These schemes bring youngsters into construction and create a new dynamic and energy that the industry desperately needs. I wish all our apprentices well as they start their formal CITB courses in December.
In 2021 we said goodbye to Dr Peter Snape who provided occupational health services to W M Donald for over fifteen years. I’m sure you will join me in wishing him a long and happy retirement. In Peter’s place, we are delighted to welcome TAC Healthcare. Many of you will already have been invited for health surveillance and flu jabs administered by them.
We start 2022 with a healthy order book. Operationally, our plans for 2022 include increasing yet further the training delivered from our accredited training centre in Netherley, supported by our training partners Bon-Accord Training, C&G, and M2. We will also continue to work hard to improve the sustainability and environmental aspects of our business, including increasing awareness and buy-in from our clients.
2022 will be a year with new challenges. However, I am confident that Team W M Donald is the strongest it has ever been and that, collectively, we will continue ‘... to make it happen’. Thank you to everyone – employees past and present, clients, sub-contractors, suppliers - for your part in establishing W M Donald as the region’s civil engineering contractor of choice.
Be safe, stay healthy and enjoy your Christmas and New Year.
Ewan Riddoch - Managing Director
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