Owen Pugh makes training gains with industry award

A North East construction firm is celebrating success after scooping an award for its commitment to staff training and development.

The Owen Pugh Group, one of the largest construction companies in North East England, has been awarded the Training Company of the Year title by the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (North East).

The company was also named runner up 2013 Project of the Year at the awards which took place at the Marriott Gosforth Park Hotel last week.

Owen Pugh was recognised by the judges for its wide ranging examples of training and development demonstrated by the business across all aspects of its work.

The Dudley headquartered company, which employs over 360 people across five regional sites, invested in excess of 800 days of internal and external training to develop employees from across the company’s divisions.

Douglas Kell, director of CECA (North East), said: “The entry from Owen Pugh was an outstanding example of how a major employer endeavours to maintain their workforce are trained to the highest possible level. They are an exemplar to others.”

Phil Malthouse, business development manager at Owen Pugh Construction, said: “Here at Owen Pugh we pride ourselves on the development and retention of our staff, with a particular focus on the recruitment and nurturing of our young people. We firmly believe that education, training and employment are the lifeblood of our company and the key to our current achievements and future success.

“Crucially, Owen Pugh training activities are innovative, practical and effective resulting in commercial success for our business.

“Recognition from industry leaders such as CECA will help us to attract employees of the future into our business and the wider construction sector.”

Owen Pugh was also named runner up 2013 Project of the Year for the construction of Jobling Purser’s new coated stone plant in Newcastle.

The Owen Pugh Group comprises five trading companies operating in the civil engineering industry, undertaking earthmoving and demolition, drainage and groundworks, plant-hire and haulage, quarrying, inert waste, drain cleaning, and CCTV surveys. The group is headquartered in Dudley near Cramlington, with other bases in Blaydon, Sunderland and Stockton-on-Tees, as well as Marsden Quarry.