TClarke brand offers compelling advantages in the North East
26/1/19 : Against the backdrop of major wins, TClarke North MD Kevin Mullen sets out the brand’s special value to clients and principal contractors. Pictured above is Hadrian’s Tower – a recent win for the Newcastle team.
Our Newcastle office has won a series of important contracts recently and that is great news for our people and our business in the region.
It is a particularly strong achievement, given the competitive market conditions we have been experiencing here, so it is worth shining a light on three factors which I believe are driving this success. The first two are relatively well known, the third maybe less so.
Engineering quality our people deliver
Our people deliver quality work in a safe manner. That’s the essence of it in a few words.
These things matter very much to the delivery of a project and moreover, what we have here in the North East, is backed up by nationwide resource. All in all, we deliver industry-leading services.
Relationship approach
The second key feature which has always been at the heart of our offer in the North East is a non-confrontational approach. We want repeat work, we want relationships, we are confident in what we can do and we have financial strength behind us; so our philosophy really is positive and collaborative. Again, this is an extremely valuable advantage for clients and principal contractors to rely on.
‘Social Value’ from our deep roots in the region
I want to highlight this third area because some people outside our industry may not be aware that for the last few years, the Government has placed ever greater emphasis – when selecting contractors for public sector projects – on the ‘social value’ which investment in a construction project can deliver. Social value is measured in the economic and social benefits that come to a community and stay in that community when a project is built.
Decades before this was even a concept, pound for pound, TClarke has been delivering at the highest levels of social value. While others have preferred to switch to contract labour, and have minimised their costs or maximised their profits by stepping away from training, apprenticeships or full time employment, we have done the reverse.
We have not only maintained the best apprenticeship scheme in our industry, we have kept on investing, we have extended it and, year by year, we have nurtured our people and helped them develop life-long careers at TClarke.
That’s why today, when TClarke works on a construction project in the North East, we are creating and sustaining high quality engineering careers in the North East, deepening the talent pool and offering people, young and old, the kind of jobs that literally build the local community.
This is already key in selection for public contracts and increasingly now, developers know that gaining planning permission will be to a growing extent dependent on their ability to show social value.