Evans Concrete Products, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of bespoke concrete solutions, has achieved a prestigious accolade after winning the Excellence in Manufacturing prize at the 2015 Derby Telegraph Business Awards.
Already a winner at the 2014 Concrete Society Awards, Evans impressed the judges with its sensational growth, achieved following a series of major contracts including a multi-million deal to provide concrete for Crossrail station platforms and infrastructures.
The Evans team has worked hard to achieve its current position, having trebled in size over the past five years despite the obstacles presented by the economic downturn. At present, the company has orders in place amounting to approximately £10 million.
Alongside these achievements, Evans was deemed to have demonstrated its ability to meet the award’s specific criteria of upholding manufacturing traditions of the local area, while continuing to strengthen the regional economy.
Investment in employees and facilities also played their part in Evans’ recent success. Many of the original traditions of making and finishing high quality concrete are still evident in the factory today, ensuring the quality and durability of all of their products. All products are cast and finished by hand – a true example of technology meeting tradition – yet the company continues to invest in new equipment to improve performance and customer service, notably a £250,000 state of the art batching plant installed in April 2015, part-funded with a Derbyshire Economic Partnership grant.
The award is hotly contested, given Derbyshire’s status as a UK manufacturing powerhouse. Evans beat fellow shortlisted companies Glossop Cartons and Pennine Healthcare, themselves highly-respected and successful businesses.
The Award Sponsor, Janine Edwards, a Principal Partner at St. James’s Place Wealth Management, said, ‘’I am delighted that Evans Concrete have won this very important award, the whole team fully deserve it. I had the pleasure of visiting the Evans site in June and was very impressed with the variety of skills and methods used at Evans, as well as the diversity of the products that Evans can produce.
It was great to see that over 50% of the Manufacturing was still hand done by skilled individuals. Most impressive was the passion, pride and commitment of everyone that I met. Well done, Evans Concrete.’’
Company chairman Garry McBride collected the award at a ceremony at Derby’s historic Roundhouse on 24th June, only a few hundred yards from one of the company’s most viewed projects – the plinth of the statue of Derby County legends Brian Clough and Peter Taylor outside the club’s iPro Stadium.
Evans secured widespread acclaim for its work on projects such as the manufacture of 8,600 concrete units for London’s Olympic Park in 2012 and ‘The Dream’ – an iconic 92ft precast concrete sculpture near St. Helens. Securing these contracts has fuelled further large business wins; alongside the Crossrail project, Evans is involved in the redevelopment of Cheltenham Racecourse and a number of prestigious residential developments in Central London.
“Ambition has served us well,” explains Garry McBride. “Receiving acknowledgements such as this prestigious award not only demonstrates that we are a serious and motivated contender in the precast concrete industry, but that the consistent endeavours of our workforce deserve to be recognised. After all, it’s their skill and expertise that deliver the design, quality and now installation standards, of our concrete products.
“We’re delighted to have impressed the judging panel and will regard our award with pride, as well as confirmation that the precedent we’ve set ourselves for innovation within bespoke precast concrete for building facades, civil engineering and infrastructure is appropriately set.”
