Yorkshire civil engineering contractor targets growth

North of England contractor, Esh Construction, is building on the success of continued growth within its civil engineering division by announcing nine director and senior-level promotions. Strengthening the division in all sectors both commercially and operationally, the new appointments will drive forward growth plans across the Yorkshire and North East regions. The announcement follows a 35 per cent uplift in turnover for the division over the past 36 months with a £200 million forward order book now secured. Stephen Wilkie, executive director at Esh Construction, explains: “Successful growth in this industry takes careful planning and timely execution to ensure the business model is sustainable. Over the past three years, we have been re-positioning our civil engineering division to grow organically, to secure larger capital projects, to demonstrate our abilities to deliver such schemes and to do so with client collaboration and maximum social return at the forefront.” What do we do? The firm’s civil engineering capabilities covers an array of sectors from highways and infrastructure, public realm and flood alleviation projects, to small works and capital schemes across the water and waste water network, as well as housing infrastructure for the region’s housebuilders. Meet the team Strengthening the proven operational capabilities of the civil engineering division is Steven Garrigan, who has been appointed as divisional director. Steven takes the reigns following his success as project director for Esh’s recently completed £42.5 million flagship highways and infrastructure scheme and builds on a 33-year career in the industry. Garrigan said: “There is huge change happening throughout the Yorkshire and North East regions with the Government pledging a combined £1.7 billion via the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement programme to combined authorities with our operating area. This funding brings with it a vast amount of work to be procured and delivered over the coming years as local authorities focus on improving the quality of their transport networks.” The operational team will be supported by Alan Croft and Stephen McClean, with the pair promoted to general civils construction manager and special projects construction manager, respectively. The Queen’s Award-winning company has bolstered its Yorkshire and Humber portfolio with a variety of schemes delivered across the region, including the M181 Northern Junction in Scunthorpe, and a technically challenging landslip repair project in West Yorkshire which enabled the re-opening of a key commuter route. Flood alleviation schemes delivered by Esh for local authorities in Filey, Cottingham and Whitby, has protected more than 5,000 properties from future flooding, while public realm projects in Bridlington have regenerated a number of areas around the Gypsey Race watercourse. The division’s work winning abilities has been boosted by the appointment of Steve Conn as pre-construction director, Giovanni Asoni as estimating director and Ross Markwell as business development director. The combination of sector and regional knowledge within the business development function, coupled with the technical and estimating expertise will see the firm target larger schemes across the region. The string of new appointments includes Lee Taylor as commercial director for Esh’s housing infrastructure division, Lumsden & Carroll, as well as Norman Barnett who has been appointed as framework director with the responsibility of managing the delivery of Esh’s small works schemes with the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water Group. Finally, Martin O’Connelley has been appointed as group commercial director for all Esh Construction divisions. Martin has 12 years’ experience within Esh’s civil engineering division and is now tasked with driving performance and collaboration across the wider group as part of the new leadership team. Stephen Wilkie concluded: “At Esh, we are proud of our ‘grow your own’ culture which allows people within our business to develop and build their career with us. This new structure provides a strong platform for us to execute our ambitious growth plans over the coming years.” To find out more about the company visit the website here