Awards

2001 - Shortlisted
Contract Journal
Demolition Contractor of the Year

Awards judges agreed that: “Coleman is a very special outfit.” They particularly commended the company for its good communications and customer-focused approach and for successfully carrying out its first ever explosives job in a demanding city centre location.

This has been a special year for Coleman too. The Birmingham based contractor has just celebrated its 40th anniversary. It is a landmark that saw not only its first explosives job but also its biggest contract award. Along with all other jobs in the past year, work was completed on time and within budget.

The £3.1m Optima housing association contract involved the demolition of two 20-storey blocks of flats located in Birmingham city centre. The city council acted as the project manager.

“We weren’t the cheapest,” says contracts director Mark Coleman. “The contract was awarded on a quality price presentation.”

He adds: “We chose explosives purely because it was the right method for the job. Despite our lack of experience in this field, we set out to learn and it was also the right time for us to expand our services. Not many clients would have awarded a city centre blow-down to a firm with no explosives track record. But we have worked for the city council for many years. It knows us and it trusts us.”

The contractor was called on to demonstrate its flexibility as the bow-down date was changed no less than four times. “two proposed dates coincided with the G8 summit conference,” said Coleman. “It was deemed to be the wrong time to be bringing explosives into the city centre!”

Special investment for the project included taking on seven new members of management plus a £1.2m spend on plant. Success breeds success, and already two further explosives contracts for a 13 span viaduct and another 17 storey block have followed.