A much-valued member of the team, Peter is celebrating 30 years at A.W. Hardy this month.

We spoke to our Quantity Surveyor to learn more about his experience with us over the decades, and what makes him tick.

How did you enter into the building industry?

I went to a secondary modern school and gained my O Levels and CSEs in 1979 before embarking on 6 years’ worth of study at Southend Technical College.

The company I was working for at the time paid for me to attend a college course one day per week plus an additional evening per week and would have me out on site or at their head office for the rest of the time. I achieved my BTEC and HBTEC, and later my Chartered Institute of Building exams (although I am not a registered member of this body).

I worked for a well-known building contractor – they were actually a rival of A.W. Hardy’s – for around 10 years, then transitioned into another firm, which eventually went into liquidation during the recession in the 1990s. I spent a few years exploring other roles before getting offered a position at A.W. Hardy in May 1994, and I’ve been here ever since.

What does a typical day look like to you at A.W. Hardy?

In a nutshell, my role is to get each project built from a head office, paperwork, and administration perspective. Working in the background, I support our people onsite with the information they need to get the job done, focusing on health and safety where needed and making sure we have the right risk assessment method statements in place. I work out what we need to obtain in terms of materials and subcontractors, and I also make sure we get paid.

I’m mainly based in the office, but I do attend meetings with suppliers and clients, and generally go to site meetings once a month.

What do you like the most about working for us?

The most satisfaction definitely comes from handing over a functional building. You start with nothing, and you end up with something at the end of it all. I often drive past a build and say to my children, with tongue in cheek, “I built that!”.

I like the fact that A.W. Hardy recognises and rewards teamwork above all else. From my bosses and the accounts team to everyone out on site and our clients and stakeholders, everyone is encouraged to bring their skills together to deliver the best result possible. People stay within the company for a long time because they feel appreciated; they find their slot, and they stick with us.

What’s the most challenging thing about your role?

There are quite a lot of moving parts within our projects. And as well as the unknowns, clients naturally like to change their minds, which means I sometimes have to go back to the drawing board and redo the sums.

Of course, we have faced a lot of challenges in recent times due to Brexit, Covid, and other external factors, but we have a great network of suppliers who won’t let us down, and this has enabled us to keep our builds on track.

Personally, I’ve had to embrace new technologies and changing attitudes over the years. There’s a lot more communication between stakeholders than there used to be, which is beneficial in some ways, as it speeds up decisions – but it means my team and I need to be more flexible and anticipate variations that will inevitably change the scope of the works.

Which projects stand out from the last few years?

Generally, my role has been very varied to date; I’ve worked on everything from libraries to schools to private homes. I was once involved in building an aircraft hangar, which was an unusual but interesting experience.

What do you like to do outside of work?

My main hobby is trains, particularly steam engines, preserved railways, and model railways. I was a trainspotter in my youth. I’ve always got new ideas for layouts I want to build, but I never seem to get around to it! I have two boys and one girl, who are all in their twenties now, and I often spend time catching up with them at football games or on other days out. For me, Sundays are dedicated to church. I probably watch far too much TV, too!