FM Conway - Going the Extra Mile

Going the Extra Mile

Dover Harbour Board put aside £10 million for renewal work on the Terminal, and when the tender came up, they approved our bid.

In addition to all of this, the iPad app helps the gangs to locate the job more quickly than in the past. If the gang has a job on the M40, for example, the app provides them with GPS coordinates of the job’s precise location. There is an icon they can click which shows them not only where the job is, but also what the job is, including the photo that the inspector has taken of the defect that needs to be dealt with. I should have liked to end the book there, with a vision of how the clever use of technology and innovation is shaping the future of F.M. Conway Ltd. But that would be a bit of a cop-out because although it is true, it is only part of the story, and it doesn’t bring the story completely up-to-date. Instead, I shall end with two stories – a big one and a small one – that illustrate two different, but equally important strengths of the company. The first is to do with people, and specifically with the building of relationships, and the trust that comes with working together, and doing a job well. This story is about the Port of Dover. Our Building & Maintenance Division was formed when Neil Leaver joined us. One of the people he employed to look after the Division, in August 2000, was Bernard Hodgkinson. Some years later, in 2008, Bernard took on a person he had worked with many years before, Nigel Digweed, to work on the Maintenance side. Nigel had previously worked with Carr Construction, and had done a lot of work at the Port of Dover. So, when the opportunity came up in 2009, Nigel was instrumental in introducing us to the Dover Harbour Board, and in winning us some Maintenance Schemes there. Those Schemes went well; Dover liked our work, and they were happy for Bernard to tender for a very big job that came up in 2013. Dover Harbour’s Cruise Terminal One (CT1)

166