South West Highways Ltd has signed a new road maintenance contract with Plymouth City Council.

SWH will take over the maintenance of Plymouth’s roads from the Council’s current contractor from April 2017, with an initial term of seven years and the opportunity to extend this by up to three years.

Councillor Steve Ricketts, Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport and Housing Delivery, said: “We’ve made it a priority to keep Plymouth moving and we want residents to receive a highways service that is efficient, innovative and customer-focussed.

“We went through a detailed procurement covering a range of criteria – from resilience and innovation to...

Sam Moore with Glen Robinson, MD of South West Highways

SWH Group’s annual Apprentice of the Year has been announced, with the award going to Sam Moore, a Business Administration Apprentice working within the Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) department.

Sam has been working at SWH Group for just over two years as part of his apprenticeship with Exeter College. His role is varied and he carries out a range of duties related to incidents, SHEQ Events, TRACA, face fit testing, calibration, LOLER and at our Annual Safety Days. Sam is often the first port of call for people requiring...

SWH Build has been awarded the contract to carry out essential maintenance on Bournemouth’s Grade II listed Pavilion this autumn/winter.

Following a survey earlier in the year, the 1920s building, which has an Art Deco theatre and ballroom, cafes, bars, meeting rooms and performance studios, was found to need essential maintenance works. This will include stonework repairs and cleaning, repairs and relining of gutters, repairs to soffits and fascias and redecoration of windows and doors to the southern end of the building.

SWH Build, which has an office in Poole, was awarded the contract to carry out the repairs by...

Lisa Boorman, Plympton Academy Principal with Sheldon Roberts, Site Manager for SWH Build

SWH Build has started work building a new performing arts centre at Plympton Academy, formerly known as Ridgeway School, in Plymouth.

The new building will have two storeys to house music classrooms, practice rooms, a recording studio, drama studios and a performance space.

SWH Build will be constructing a steel frame following the completion of foundation works.

Lisa Boorman, principal at Plympton Academy, said: "The vision is for the facilities to be used in conjunction with the community. Everyone is very excited about the...

The SWH Civils team at the new coach station

Plymouth’s new coach station, built by our civil engineering division, SWH Civils, for Plymouth City Council was officially opened today by Council leader Ian Bowyer.

Work began in January of this year and saw SWH Civils lead and manage the project from start to finish. SWH Build was also called in to carry convert a former Lloyds Bank building into a ticket office for the new facility. The coach station has seven bays, real time passenger information screens, sail like steel canopies to provide shelter, toilets, a staffed ticket office, ticket...

SWH Group has teamed up with the local arm of Aggregate Industries to provide practical training exercises to Construction and Civil Engineering apprentices.

SWH Group has worked closely with Aggregate Industries on a number of community focussed initiatives, including the recent construction of a wheelchair friendly driveway for a paralysed lady in Ottery St Mary.  The companies have teamed up again to provide a practical exercise for a team of twelve apprentices as part of their ongoing training.

In this case, Aggregate Industries needed to construct a footpath around its asphalt quarry in Rockbeare, which is also used for the sale of...

A project undertaken by SWH Civils to build a helipad at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth has been confirmed as runner up in the prestigious Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) South West Project of the Year Awards. SWH Civils and designers Aecom Ltd received a ‘Highly Commended’ in the over £1million new build category.

SWH Civils acted as Principle Contractor on the scheme, which has enabled Plymouth NHS Trust to deliver an improved helicopter landing facility.  Devon & Cornwall Air Ambulances, along with air sea rescue Sea Kings, can now access the hospital day and night.

The awards were established by the ICE’s...

SWH Group has been awarded a Gold for continuous excellence in health and safety by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for the 9th consecutive year, as well as a Gold Award for Fleet Safety for the second time.

2016 marks the 60th anniversary of the awards which were established to recognise and celebrate excellence in safety performance.  SWH Group has received a Gold award in the Occupational Health & Safety category for the past nine years, demonstrating the company’s commitment to the wellbeing of its employees, the community and the environment.  This is the second time the...

SWH Build has won a Bronze award in the 2016 Considerate Constructors Scheme Site Awards for its work at Taunton’s Visitor Centre.  Dave Eaves, the Site Manager for the project, was presented with the award at a ceremony in London.

The refurbishment project was completed in 2015, and saw the Grade II listed building undergo a complete overhaul to create a centre that was attractive to passers-by and easily accessible by all, whilst preserving its character and heritage.    

Only top performing sites throughout the year are selected for these prestigious awards. The Considerate Constructors Scheme carries out audits at all registered sites...

SWH has achieved certification to BS 11000:2010 for Collaborative Business Relationships by the prestigious British Standards Institute (BSI).

The BSI is an international organisation that promotes standards which formalise better ways of working, for small businesses to multinational corporations and governments. Collaborative working can provide greater efficiencies for business, allowing the sharing of risks, costs and resources for mutual benefit.

A BSI assessor carried out two stringent audits of SWH working practices, during which he found no non conformities, and immediately recommended that certification for Collaborative Business Relationships be awarded.

During the audits, the assessor was extremely...