GRAHAM is a highly respected and well-established player in the building, civil engineering, interior fit-out, facilities management and investments sectors.
The company has been at the forefront of several high-profile rail projects over the years, including Europe’s largest infrastructure project – Crossrail – where it was appointed to construct and upgrade three railway stations as part of the new high frequency, high-capacity railway for London and the southeast. Other projects have included the Beaulieu Parkway Bridge and a brand-new bridge at Marsh Barton Railway.
We caught up with Andrew Henry, Contracts Director at GRAHAM, to find out more about these projects, GRAHAM’s capabilities within the rail sector and what lies ahead for the company.
Andrew has been with GRAHAM for the last ten years but has been in the industry for two decades, having started with GRAHAM in 2004 as a student. He’s seen a lot of changes over the years, namely expansion and growth. “When I first started, GRAHAM was a £40-50 million business; now it’s well in excess of £1billion!” Andrew stated.
But what is this attributed to? “There’s been a considerable appetite for steady growth within the business and we’re always looking to new markets,” Andrew explained. “The biggest thing has been keeping ahead of the game. We are coming up with new ideas and seeking fresh opportunities all the time. But at the same time, we are mindful not to grow too rapidly. We try to keep growth sustainable and organic, growing and developing from within, rather than fast, mass expansion.”
Crossrail
Talking about some of the big projects the company has been working on over the last few years, Andrew explained: “We’d been doing smaller scale work for Network Rail for around 8-10 years, but in 2019 we successfully tendered for three stations in West London as part of the Crossrail schemes – Acton Main Line, Ealing Broadway, and West Ealing. Works involved two new station builds (Acton Main Line and West Ealing) and one major revamp (Ealing Broadway).”
Andrew continued: “It was a £50+million package. Prior to this, the biggest rail project GRAHAM had delivered was around £10 million. It introduced us to some of the larger scale projects for Network Rail rather than just bridge replacements and embankment works. It was a great opportunity that then got us onto the CP6 framework with Network Rail in Wales and Western and presented greater opportunity in third-party schemes.”
Beaulieu Parkway Bridge
Beaulieu Parkway Bridge is another success story. Andrew explained: “There is a large-scale development just outside Chelmsford – Beaulieu Park. Part of the planning requirements was to create a new access route into the development. The scheme comprised of the construction of a new bridge over the A12 slip and the Greater Eastern Main Line which is the line from Liverpool Street to Stanstead. We undertook the early-stage development through to design and delivery of Beaulieu Bridge which was a 180 metre multi-span bridge structure over road and rail.”
The Beaulieu Bridge project involved impressive installation methodology which demonstrated the innovative approaches to bridge installations GRAHAM offers clients. This particular installation is the longest bridge installed using SPMT’s with the deck cantilevered in the UK.
Translink
GRAHAM is also working on a number of civils and building frameworks with Translink, turning over circa £15million to £20million a year with them. Works are nearing completion on a new £15 million station – York Street – on the outskirts of Belfast.
“We were involved in an early stage ECI with the client on it a few years back, when they were going through feasibility. We then went through competitive tender, were awarded the project and have spent the last 18 months in construction” explained Andrew. “The first stage is delivered now. The new station is built, and the existing station has been demolished. We’re just finishing things off, building retaining walls and extending the canopies together further finishes and landscaping works.”
Other projects
It’s certainly a busy time for GRAHAM. On top of the above projects, they are also carrying out a number of other works including bridge refurbishments, culvert replacements, several ECI projects including support on feasibility studies on line speed enhancement and electrification from Belfast to the border with the Republic of Ireland.
Andrew explained: “There are a lot of future plans for electrification between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland which could provide us with huge opportunities for future work and projects. It’s in line with a growing demand for better and more frequent public transport across Ireland.”
He added: “There are two separate schemes we’re looking at, one is the electrification itself in terms of fitting the overhead line equipment, the feasibility of it, clearances and examining the condition of the network to facilitate it. The second is the line speed enhancements. We’re looking at the existing curvatures of the line and identifying opportunities to effectively straighten the line to increase the line speed and decrease the journey time from Belfast to Dublin.”
What sets GRAHAM apart from the competition?
GRAHAM clearly has huge capabilities and expertise in the rail sector, but what really sets it apart? “We are driven towards a model where we use our own people as much as possible,” Andrew explained. “We very seldomly bring in any agency staff, and 95+ per cent are directly employed by GRAHAM. We believe that when you have your own people on a project, you have a lot more of a buy in and a lot more invested interest. And because of that, it helps your chances of repeat business and helps you build relationships with clients and the supply-chain. They know our people; they know who’s going to be involved with future projects. I think that’s a big thing to grow and develop within the business.”
Rail sector challenges
No industry is without its challenges, and the rail sector is no different. Andrew explained that the main challenge he is noticing now is a reduction of spend for enhancements. He explained how there have recently been jobs that have gone to tender but then haven’t progressed because of funding constraints. “It’s become more and more apparent over the last 12-18 months. I think we need to ride out the storm for the next 12 months or so and then there will come a point after that where things will start taking off again,” Andrew explained.
“We’re in a positive position in that we are in a number of frameworks with Translink that will provide some opportunities for us, as well as the electrification programme. There are also a couple of new stations for which we’re involved in the ECI stages and there are several opportunities in the southern market, the Republic of Ireland, including large plans for the DART+ and Dublin Metro. In the UK there are various other opportunities that we are pursuing both through frameworks and other routes to market.”
And finally, does Andrew enjoy his job? “Yes, every day is interesting and different. There’s always something new happening, it’s not boring. My job is enjoyable, exciting and challenging all at the same time.”
For more information about GRAHAM, please visit www.graham.co.uk/
