14th November 2008
English Construction from Bowbrook, Shrewsbury beat the cream of Britain’s builders to be crowned the Most Waste Efficient Builders in Britain for their recycling and waste minimisation practises, particularly while working on an extension to a care home in Oswestry.
Naomi Cleaver, presenter of C4 Grand Designs Trade Secrets presented the award to David English and his team at English Construction for their ongoing commitment to improve the recycling and waste practices being used by the company.
English Construction’s latest project was an 18-bed extension to a care home for the elderly in Morda, Oswestry. With waste minimisation as one of the core tenets of the business, the company has become so waste-efficient that over the 18-month construction period they only filled 2 skip loads of rubbish.
David English explained that this was achieved by accurate buying, by ordering small quantities of materials to arrive at the right time, and through correct storage practice. They made sure that no materials sat around either unprotected or for weeks on site just waiting to be damaged or broken.
English Construction was also able to sell on the 900 tonnes of topsoil removed from the site, making money on this rather than paying to dispose of waste soil. Their total savings on this project through waste minimisation techniques was around £18,000.
“I’m no eco-warrior,” admits David English, director of the 11-strong company, based in Bowbrook, Shrewsbury. “The whole point of our focus on waste minimisation and recycling has always been to save us money and increase our profit margins. Of course, this also means we are reducing the waste we are sending to landfill sites too.”
The Master Builder of the Year Awards, now in its ninth year, is organised by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), the UK’s largest building trade association. These annual awards celebrate the outstanding work delivered by the vast majority of builders who can only be nominated by highly satisfied clients.
English Construction triumphed to win the national award in the Most Waste Efficient Builder category, which is supported by Envirowise.
Speaking at the Awards ceremony, FMB director general, Richard Diment said: “These Awards are an opportunity to showcase projects and companies around the country that would otherwise be overlooked. Size is not important, while good business practise is. It is heartening to see that companies like English Construction are reaping the rewards of their investment in the company’s waste minimisation practises, which have increased their resource efficiency and therefore their profits.”
“Our congratulations go to English Construction for this well-deserved award,” he added.
English Construction and director David English wins a luxury all-inclusive weekend break for two at any of the UK Barceló Hotels.
