A Career in Construction Part 23

The first half of 1989 was a period of consolidation. New jobs came are way, Herbal Hill Offices on Faringdon Road was a huge capture. And we had settled into our office in Ruislip. However the pressure for space there had become a problem. Our finances were such that we could afford somewhere better and in June we moved into a much plusher and self contained office block in West Drayton with carp parking underneath. We had definitely arrived.

There were lots of tenders coming our way and we added to our estimating team with a tender planner. So may of our tenders required professional submissions and we were getting used to presenting fairly sophisticated tender documents. This stood us in good stead when, at the end of the year, we tendered for a Shorthaul Catering Facilty for British Airways at Heathrow. This was our most important job so far, so when we won it against stiff competition, we were ecstatic. That was to be our flagship project for 1990.

Although contracts at The Royal Mint, Denmark Hill and Saville Row (below) and other smaller jobs meant we were a very busy company. And, amazingly, profitable. Our site teams had grown considerably.

By this time we had changed our name to Wiltshier Design and Management Ltd and taken on a Design Director to add to our board that comprised the Managing Director, Commercial Director, Construction Director and Finance Director. Into 1991 and more new contracts including 1 America Square. But it was at the end of the year that a small refurb became something major. The interior redevelopment for Generali Insurance's headquarters on Fenchurch Street was a hugely successful contract  for 1992. Other projects that year started with Chiltern Street, Farnborough, a car rental facility for Avis  and a refit in Terminal 4 both at Heathrow.

But 1992 was momentous for one reason. The Wiltshier Group sold our company to the French Group SAE. There had been a link between the two groups over the last couple of years and when SAE were looking to expand their operations into this country, it was our company that seemed to fit the bill. It also gave us the opportunity of being a more independent concern, being able to tender for traditional contracts as well as design and build and management jobs. We would be away from the Wiltshier brand but with the backing of a huge French company. The only problem was our change of name to Relais Construction. Where did that come from?

But apart from change of ownership, things went on pretty much as before. A healthy balance sheet, our contracts had been overall profitable for five years (not very often a construction company can say that) and we had a large cash reserve in the bank. Little did we know that this independence from bank borrowing would be our downfall in the future. But at this time, with our company being five years old, we were heading into 1993 in a good position.