As 2023 draws to a close we can look back over the year with some pride.
Our social value team have been extremely active in support of charitable causes from helping local teams to providing an outdoor classroom for a primary school in Swansea. You can read about all their work below but the committee deserve our thanks for the shear scale and variety of the causes they have supported on our behalf. There is no doubt that this has resulted in a lot of gratitude from all the recipients. In addition, there have been some individual and groups raising money for worthwhile charities through their own endeavours who deserve our congratulations too! Well done to everyone involved as the “giving back” culture is an important ethos for companies like us.
There have been some notable awards again this year including a Galliford Try Health and Safety and a BESA Training award. There has also been recognition for the contribution individuals and groups have made to the success of contracts. You all deserve our thanks and congratulations.
The year has not been our busiest, however, we have increased the volume over last year. We have been busy as usual working on health and education contracts in particular and expect this to continue for many years to come. However, the prospects for the next few years look extremely promising and will challenge us to deliver a greater volume of contracts. I believe we are capable of meeting this challenge and that you will all be engaged and committed to ensure the contracts are delivered successfully and profitably. There are too many exciting opportunities to list here, but it is very satisfying to know that more clients have the confidence to involve us in ever higher value contracts. There will be more updates on these prospects soon once the work has been secured.
The company is growing. Our electrical capabilities are expanding to match the coming workload. Our HFM and HTIC workloads are increasing. The design department is adapting to meet the challenges of both in-house and out-sourced scheme management. The CEF opportunities in the health sector are increasing. There is growth throughout the business. This is necessary to meet the expectations of our clients and has resulted in new people joining us during the year. I welcome you all and hope that you will enjoy working with your colleagues here.
Inevitably, as with all organisations, we have people who leave us, in our case, usually through retirement. It is with sadness that we say goodbye to those who have made such a significant contribution to the company and wish them well for their futures. Their boots are big to fill but our people step up and business continues unabated.
As I have already said, you can be proud of being a part of the company. It is easy to market the Hurley brand. This is because our culture oozes through the business and we make it a pleasure to engage with our people. That isn’t so easy to achieve given our numbers. So I thank you all for your professionalism, approach and commitment in all that you do.
To 2024. Our 75th Year. This is something to celebrate and we intend to do so. You are all invited to our Anniversary Party on 25th May 2024 at the City Hall in Cardiff. There will be more details about this soon but please keep the date free.
All that remains is for me to wish you a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
We were delighted to receive Galliford Try’s CBAB Award at their Supply Chain Awards recently, which took place at The Exchange Building, University of Birmingham. The award, which stands for Challenging Beliefs, Affecting Behaviour and Be Well, recognises our hard work in embedding health and safety in everything we do. Health and Safety Manager, Carl Myerscough, and Project Manager, Ryan Shapcott proudly accepted the award on behalf of the Hurley team.
We understand the importance of supporting our local communities and donating to foodbanks is one way of offering our help directly to local people. In readiness for the Christmas period we’ve donated to 2 foodbanks, supplying a donation of non perishable items and some Christmas treats to each. Donations were made to the foodbank at The Warehouse Church in Newport in partnership with John Perkins Construction, and Pontypridd Foodbank (Trussell Trust) with Morgan Sindall and Walters . These donations will help vulnerable individuals and families and we’re more than happy to show our support for such an important cause.
We were delighted to visit Willows High School in Cardiff recently to learn about their Enterprise School and make a donation of tools and materials to support their fantastic work. Talented pupils have been designing and making Christmas goods to sell at a local farmer’s market, which include candleholders, Christmas tree decorations and table lamps made from copper pipework.
Money raised from the enterprise business goes towards future projects and remaining profits go back to the pupils who crafted the goods. It was inspiring to see the pupils’ work and the proactive and visionary leadership ardently championing the cause of enterprise learning and allowing the pupils to thrive. You can learn more about the Enterprise School here.
We’re thrilled to be the main sponsor for Cardiff & Vale Health Charity’s Shine Bright Appeal. Over the festive period, we’re sponsoring an XL star at University Hospital Llandough and a beautiful Christmas tree at University Hospital of Wales. All money raised will go towards the charity’s incredible work at Our Health Meadow.
As main sponsor of the appeal, we had the important job of switching on the Christmas lights and stars at Llandough Hospital in Cardiff recently. The festive celebrations included magnificent choir performances from several local primary schools, with the children singing well loved Christmas songs and they had an amazing turn out of support.
Continuing our work with the community, we recently delivered a community project for Trallwn Primary School in Swansea to create an outdoor classroom in the grounds of the school. We worked with a specialist supplier to provide a beautiful, inspiring and exciting classroom that will transform the pupils’ outdoor learning experience. The classroom can seat up to 50 children and offers a flexible space that can be used for teaching and learning, but also as a meeting place, a quiet space or as a shelter during outdoor events. The classroom was officially opened at a Christmas themed event where the children delivered a heartfelt and touching thank you speech and were then treated to hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows around the fire pit.
We are proud to announce that we have teamed up with South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust to support their Winter Warmth Pack initiative. We have helped fund the pilot scheme, which will see 50 warmth packs handed out by the community team based in Atherstone. The packs are designed to help community patients vulnerable to fuel poverty stay warm this winter and will be distributed by the community team who also received energy awareness training from local charity Act on Energy to help identify those at risk. Items in the warmth packs include hats, gloves, socks, scarves, blankets, hot chocolate, soup sachets and an information pack on energy efficiency and additional help.
As the end of 2023 nears, we’d like to take the opportunity to report on some of the charities and organisations we’ve supported throughout the year. Whether its through a monetary donation, donation of goods/materials or volunteering our time we aim to give something back to the communities we work in. A few examples are listed below.
Other Organisations we’ve supported:
We’ve also supported many local sport teams over the course of the year. Some highlights include Wyndham U14s Girls Football Team, Bridgend and District Schools U11s Rugby Team, Clwb Rugby Yr Hendi, Swansea Gladiators RFC, YOGITS Touch Rugby Team, Universal Academy of the Arts Dance School and Exeter Spartans Basketball Club.
We’re delighted to say that our fundraising efforts have amounted to £4,900 in 2023, which has gone to Prostate UK and The Alzheimer’s Society. Thank you to all those that have supported our fundraising events whether by donating or participating – your help is greatly appreciated. We’re really looking forward to continuing our efforts next year.
We have recently been awarded Preferred Supply Chain Partner status for Morgan Sindall. Over the years we have built a good supplier relationship and have worked collaboratively to achieve the same goals. We’ve delivered several key projects for Morgan Sindall and by achieving an excellent customer experience this has gained us recognition as a preferred supplier. Further strengthening our relationship with Morgan Sindall, we have recently commenced on site at Pontypridd Middle School.
We will be starting some sizable projects in 2024, including the Carmarthen Hwb project which is a refurbishment of the old Debenhams site to transform it into a well-being hub offering a range of health, learning and cultural services. Bouygues are the main contractor and work is due to start on site in March-April 2024 time.
Working with Morgan Sindall, we will be delivering a net zero primary school in Pontypirdd which is due to start on site in April 2024. The school, which is known as the new 3-16 Pontypridd school, will feature air source heat pumps as the primary mode of heating for the new building. Also within education, we will be starting on site at Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Llyn Y Forwen in Ferndale RCT in early 2024, working with Wynne Construction.
In the South West region, Hurley (Exeter) will be working with Willmott Dixon to deliver the Corbyn Head Hotel. The four-star hotel will feature 152 bedrooms, a restaurant, spa and terraces that overlook the bay in Torquay. We have commenced the sample bedroom and works are due to officially start on site in January 2024.
We’ve also recently started several key projects which span several sectors. In healthcare, we’re on site at Salisbury District Hospital carrying out a 24 bed refurbishment for BAM Construction. We’re also maintaining our presence at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, delivering both the Theatre 7 and ITU North projects.
In the cultural and heritage sector, we’re delivering a number of projects for the National Museum of Wales, including the LV upgrade at the Big Pit National Coal Museum, the Circular Galleries at National Museum of Wales and also The Vulcan Hotel in St Fagans.
Across the education sector, we are delivering several projects including Woodstock CofE Primary School in Oxford, Fenton and Monkton Primary Schools in Pembrokeshire, and subsidiary Carters Sustainable Construction is currently underway with three primary schools in Carmarthenshire- Peniel Community School in Carmarthen, Ysgol Y Ddwylan in Newcastle Emlyn, and Llechyfedach Primary School in Llanelli.
We’ve successfully handed over several projects recently, and our thanks go to all the project managers and site teams for getting these projects across the line. Healthcare projects completed have included Cossham Hospital MRI scanner project in Bristol, Genomics Partnership Wales in Cardiff, Mount Gould Hospital Lift Installation in Plymouth, Soundwell Hydrotherapy Pool in Bristol, SDMU and SPECT CT Gamma Camera at Morriston Hospital and CT Scanner at Singleton Hospital, both in Swansea, and the controls upgrade at both Cimla and Tonna Hospital in Swansea.
In the education sector, we’ve successfully handed over the Holyrood Academy expansion project, LED lighting at Ystrad Mynach Primary School, Tairgwaith Primary School Boiler House Scheme in Ammanford, Portfield School H Block in Haverfordwest, Kennion Block at Blue School in Wells, and the Construction Skills building at Yeovil College.
Also working within the research and development sector, Project Spires in Oxford was successfully completed providing CAT A office space with research facilities including cleanrooms and laboratories.
We’re also pleased to say that the 426 bed Crown Student Living project in Nottingham is also now complete and our thanks go to everyone involved.
