Companies from Walsall, Great Barr, West Bromwich and Solihull have walked away with awards from one of the Midlands’s largest construction groups.

The four firms were singled out for special praise by major Midlands contractor, BAM Construction, which has its regional HQ at Fore business park in Solihull and has an annual turnover above £100 million.

Regional Director Rod Stiles gave gold awards to Armac Demolition from Solihull, Gecon Groundworks Ltd in Great Barr and Summit Electrical in Walsall. Independent Scaffold Services from West Bromwich collected a silver award along with Derby steelworks company MJ Robinson.

The awards were made during a strategic event bringing together BAM’s key suppliers and sub-contractors in the Midlands area, and inviting them to identify what they need to do business safely and efficiently in the future.

“BAM has a significant presence in Birmingham. We’re about to commence work at Three Snowhill, for example, one of the largest schemes in the City. Bringing together companies we use often allows us to adopt a common approach to behaving efficiently, safely, and profitably. Our clients know us for being a collaborative and non-confrontational partner and we extend that approach to our suppliers and sub-contractors too.

“It is important that we work well together to promote a positive safety culture, to value the people who work on our sites, pay them promptly, and respect and utilise their knowledge and expertise. I’d like to congratulate Armac, Gecon and Summit Electrical on their gold awards.”

Rod Stiles

Regional Director

Summit Electrical’s Ronnie Bhathal said his firm’s award “is due to our consistency of performance, in both tendering and delivery across a number of projects including Hallmoor School, Heathlands School, Sandwell UTC and Finham Park”.

Gecon Groundwork’s Gerry Cox said, “We worked on five of BAM’s projects during 2015, consistently delivering high standards of work on time and just as importantly keeping its commercial teams happy.”

Mark Dudley of Armac Demolition added, “Our relationship with BAM extends over many years of success. During 2015, Armac carried out demolition work on BAM’s Midlands batch of priority schools and safely carried out demolition work at occupied schools in Derby, Mansfield, Hallmoor and Castle Bromwich. Working in a live school environment it is more important than ever that we all get it right every time and I am delighted that has been recognised.”

Besides its extensive education work BAM has recently delivered several commercial schemes including the National Indoor (Barclaycard) Arena, the refurbishment at the Beorma Quarter in Digbeth, and a retail development in Shirley.

Including its supply chain, the Midlands arm of BAM brings work to around 900 people every year, and turns over in excess of £100 million, a figure Mr Stiles says is set to grow next year.

He concluded: “How we treat our suppliers is an important indicator of how we do business. Good and fair relationships lead to good practices and to problem solving instead of a blame culture. That’s what our clients have come to expect from us.”