Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 7
/NEWS
Left-to-right: SCH construction manager Andy Braid, commercial manager Dave Scott, managing director
Gary Finley, accounts administrator Patricia Washington –and draughtsman Matthew Reed.
SCH DOUBLES TURNOVER
IN TWO YEARS
A steel specialist company on
Aycliffe Business Park is set
for a third successive recordbreaking year.
SCH Site Services started out in 2006
operating as a crane hire company with
four mobile cranes and four drivers
working for local companies.
The firm first started to explore the
secondary steelwork market in 2011 and
recorded a turnover of £325,000.
However, a year later, SCH Site Services
moved into its own £500,000 premises in
Aycliffe, and recorded sales of £2.2m.
And after moving into other areas of
work, including main steelwork erection,
architectural metalwork, steelwork
fabrication, crane hire and contract lifts,
building dismantling and site fabrication,
that figure leaped again to £3.43m last
year, a rise of 64% on 2012.
But this year the firm is expecting to
record sales of £4.6m - up 75% on last
year and more than 100% in the two
years since moving to its new 40,000 sq ft
premises.
Staff numbers have also doubled in the
last three years, while more recently three
key new office staff Patricia Washington,
Mathew Reed and Dave Scott have
boosted SCH’s workforce to 39, with nine
in the factory, seven in the office and 23
out on sites.
SCH is also working towards ISO9001 and
CE marked product accreditation by July
this year.
It’s been a steam train three-year journey
for SCH, which now boasts the likes of Sir
Robert McAlpine, Robertson’s North-East,
Shepherd Construction, Hall Construction,
Peikko and Balfour Beatty among its
client list, as well as its own neighbouring
company, Finley Structures, situated just
a stone’s throw away from their factory.
Construction Manager Andy Braid said:
“A lot of endeavour and hard work has
gone in to SCH over the last three years
especially as we’ve slowly established
ourselves as one of the main players in
the North-East steelwork market.
“In what has been a difficult market in
recent years, our reputation is earning
repeat business and a top reputation and
we want to build on that by establishing
ourselves further in the architectural
metalwork market.
”
Some of SCH’s recent projects include the
fabrication of and installation of secondary
and primary steelwork for Shepherd
Construction at Drax Power Station in
North Yorkshire, a primary steelwork at
Northumberland street entrance Eldon
square for Sir Robert McAlpine and the
refurbishment of sheds 3, 4 and 5 at PD
Ports, Billingham, for Hall Construction
(pictured below).
For more details about SCH, go to
www.schsiteservices.co.uk or call them
on 01325 327149.
THE GOOD, THE
BAD & THE UGLY
With HR expert Zanna Bewick
Why do some good employees
turn bad – and potentially even
ugly?
Scenario 1: Employee doing okay, perhaps
not ideal, a few little niggles… Manager
very busy, will “have a chat” tomorrow.
Then something triggers a bigger concern,
or one that is noticed by a Director…
There are three considerations here –
doing what the boss wants, whilst being
fair to the employee and acting legally. A
nifty juggling act even on a good day!
However if the basic elements of
performance management are applied
this can be handled easily with minimum
conflict and a positive outcome.
· Determine performance expectations
· Support performance
· Review and appraise performance
Scenario 2: Employee doing okay, perhaps
not ideal, a few little niggles… Manager
very busy but sits the employee down for
a 10 minute chat about the most important
– and most frequently forgotten – first
element of performance management:
Expectations!
If employees know what is expected of
them and what that looks like, any support
that is required to help them achieve it
can be identified and everyone is working
towards the same goal. Simply put discuss, agree and review an individual
Performance Improvement Plan.
If, however, employees do not know what
is expected of them they will doubtless
do their best, and if not told otherwise will
continue to act that way be