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The tide has turned, according to the Surrey-based groundworks firm Coinford: private residential work is picking up and developers are starting to build. Unfortunately, profit is a little way off yet, writes Andrew Hankinson.

We鈥檙e turning away 60% to 70% of tenders. if it鈥檚 not a preferred client we don鈥檛 do it

Nigel Chandler

鈥淭he upturn has happened because private developers sold stock better than they thought they would,鈥� says Nigel Chandler, commercial director at Coinford.

鈥淪uddenly they haven鈥檛 got anything left to sell, so they鈥檝e realised they have to get building.

鈥淣ow they鈥檙e taking advantage of the rock-bottom prices, so we鈥檙e down to the knuckle with regards to pricing, and we have to be in order to get the jobs, as there are so many scrambling for their lives. The word profit is an ancient thing.鈥�

Coinford specialises in groundworks, infrastructure and concrete structures, mainly for developers such as Barratt, Berkeley, Bovis Homes and Persimmon.

Current jobs include 拢3m of groundworks on the Kidbrooke regeneration in Greenwich, south-east London; a Minerva redevelopment of a 19th-century residence overlooking Hyde Park in London; and a 拢6.5m groundworks deal for a Berkeley residential scheme in Cambridge.

The firm is owned by brothers Gerry and Mike Hickey - Gerry concentrates on site work, Mike on the administration. Chandler, 40, who has worked for Coinford for 12 years, allocates the tenders and manages the estimating side. A qualified engineer, he previously worked for John Laing on sites - 鈥淚 felt like my left leg had been cut off when I first started working in the office.鈥�

Now he is trying to ensure the firm makes the most of its resources. About half of the workforce has been laid off. Now, the number of workers on site is about 400, although only a portion of those are directly employed. Chandler says he is not sure of the exact figure, but emphasises that it is increasing. His priority, however, is turning bids into cash.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had to draw up a list of preferred clients. At the moment we鈥檙e turning away 60% to 70% of tenders - we have to as we got rid of people in estimating. So we鈥檙e trying to work with people we鈥檝e got a good relationship with, as there is no point in taking a shot in the dark. There are some lovely jobs [among] those we鈥檙e turning down, but if it鈥檚 not a preferred client, we don鈥檛 do it.

鈥淢ost of the clients on that list are private. Before the credit crunch we got around 85% of our work from private developers, with the rest government funded. But in June 2008 it stopped, just like that - our private work dropped to about 40%. Now it鈥檚 back up to around 75%.鈥�

Coinford鈥檚 public sector work is in jeopardy, and the only jobs it is now doing were signed off before the general election. Chandler predicts that Coinford will 鈥渟tart to feel the cuts next month or the month after鈥�. As he points out, groundworks firms are the first to notice the fluctuations in construction activity and the first to come out of any hard times. So what鈥檚 his assessment?

鈥淚鈥檓 never going to say we鈥檝e ridden the storm, and we鈥檙e still fighting for every job,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I can see us making a profit on the work we鈥檙e doing towards the end of the year. And we鈥檙e keeping the lads ticking over - that鈥檚 the main thing.鈥�

Pictured: Coinford鈥檚 current jobs include the redevelopment of The Lancasters, a 19th-century residence overlooking Hyde Park