Davie's Virtual Desk

I think it’s critical for Turriff’s continued success that we make it as easy as possible for our clients to do business with us. You may think this is common sense, but I’m sure we can all think of instances where we’ve been convinced by an organisation that their product or service is what we want only then to find that barriers are put in the way of placing an order: nobody answers the phone, you can’t find the phone number on a website, long-winded form filling and so on.

One thing Turriff seeks to do is to minimise the administrative burden for its clients. This frequently requires commitment and dedication much of which goes unnoticed whilst we focus on delivering operational excellence. For that reason I’d like to commend all involved in achieving an outstanding result in the UVDB Verify audit. Turriff’s ratings, already inexcess of 90%, rose again across all areas of health, safety, environmental and quality performance; a clear sign that our focus on continuous improvement is paying dividends. The UVDB – Utility Vendors’ Database – is used by many utilities across the United Kingdom as an initial vetting tool for prospective suppliers. It contains details of the services provided by a company, its financial performance and detailed operational information. Every two years, contractors are audited with visits made both to office and site locations.

The IMS 2 (Information Management System) update continues to deliver improvements. PISYS – the company which developed the operations software and systems used by Turriff – has updated its software and reviewed systems performance. As an example of the impact of the modifications, one report which used to take seven minutes to run now takes 45 seconds. These improvements will be a huge benefit both to our management, administrative and operational teams and to the quality of feedback we can provide our customers.

This week I am meeting with John Morea, CEO of SGN, in London on Tuesday and then on Wednesday night I start my annual leave. This year I am devoting the time to improving my golf handicap in the sunny climes of South Africa. As any of you who have played golf with me will know, this practice is much needed and long overdue!

Finally, I’d like to encourage all within Turriff to submit ideas and information to Allison for potential inclusion in the next Turriff newsletter. This could be details of a particular contract, fund-raising activities (a constant theme within the Turriff team which is to be congratulated), a new product or service or innovation, or….well that’s down to you. Allison can be contacted at  Allison.Mitchell@turriff.com. Allison will also be liaising with me regarding the blog over the coming fortnight.

As always, have a good week.

Davie

Yet another week of inclement weather! Well done to all the teams on site for maintaining the momentum on projects despite the snow and rain. It really was an odd mix. In some areas you literally couldn’t move because of the snow, and yet twenty miles down the road it was clear.

Road conditions meant I had to miss out on the CECA (Civil Engineering Contractors Association) dinner in Glasgow. CECA represents the interests of over 100 Scottish contractors of all shapes and sizes, and maintains close links with the Scottish Parliament on issues such as the country’s infrastructure and health and safety. Turriff is an active and enthusiastic supporter of CECA.

As most of you will know already, I announced last week the results of a restructuring of Turriff’s senior team. The key objective is to create clear and direct lines of communication which support the goals of the business and reinforce Turriff’s commitment to its customers. The executive committee has been strengthened by the addition of Margaret McEwen, Mike Ramsay, and Andy Monaghan. Scott Inglis has joined us as Financial Controller.

I tend to view Turriff’s organisational structure as an inverted triangle with the executive committee at the bottom. Its task is to build robust operational, commercial and financial foundations which enable our customer-facing teams to deliver Turriff’s vision of operational excellence.

Last week, SGN Senior Management along with a party of guests paid a visit to an operational Turriff site in Newbattle Terrace, Edinburgh where our team was laying  a 630mm polyethylene main. As with the Turriff teams returning from their stint in London, the feedback was ‘first class’. It is not only customers. Turriff regularly receives letters of praise and thanks from members of the public. It’s always heartening and motivating to get positive feedback like this.

Finally, I’d like to welcome back Allison Mitchell who is rejoining Turriff to become my personal assistant. Allison’s infectious enthusiasm, drive and organisation will be a great benefit to Turriff in general: and me in particular!

Have a good week.

PS – During the recent briefings it was reassuring to know that many of you had read the blog. As always, I encourage direct feedback on any of the points I have raised. Drop me a line at david.morrison@turriff.com

Although we are already on week six on the New Year, the past seven days have been the first when I’ve felt we’ve been able to fire on all cylinders. The bad weather appears to be out of the system and our clients are pressing ahead with their work programmes. Turriff is busy and, as a general rule, when Turriff is busy the other group companies – UMS and Smart Services – are busy too.

The highest profile news of recent days is that the Turriff Group has invested over £500,000 to establish an internal traffic management division: the division is located within UMS. The investment has purchased vehicles and the associated signage to allow us to undertake traffic management both for group companies and our clients. The move has the potential to generate cost savings and contribute to the group vision of operational excellence.

Internally, Brian Wood is overseeing a review of the Group’s IT systems. Whilst the review is linked to the purchase of a new finance software module, it is tasked with looking at the scope and performance of all systems linked to the IMS (Information Management System). If you’d like to contribute to the review, speak to Brian

This is early days for the blog. Initial feedback shows there have been 290 hits to date. Not bad, but I’m aiming for better. I’d welcome your feedback on any of the subjects I’ve touched on. Feel free to contact me on david.morrison@turriff.com. I’ll endeavour to respond to any feedback I receive.

Have a good week

Last week, Directors from our major clients, Scotland Gas Networks and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) – Colin Hood (Chief Operating Officer), John Lobban (Operations Director) and Gary Barnes (HR and HSE Director) – visited our site in Dunkeld Road, Perth. The site is close by SSE’s headquarters in a congested area of the city and extensive traffic management is required to allow the works to proceed. The suction excavator was being utilised to ensure no damage was done to cables and an IP gas main in the area. We are installing a 500mm polyethylene gas main, as well as undertaking associated works such as installing governors. The feedback was very positive so well done to all.  One of the things which stood out were Turriff’s signs stating the start and end times for the site being manned. Proof that attention to detail really can make the difference.

Can-do. The Smart Services team has responded magnificently to a request from a client to increase manpower on its contract by 30 Engineers. I’ll tell you more in future postings.

The cold weather over the Christmas period means we are working hard to address the reinstatement backlogs being experienced by all our customers. The forecast for the coming week is for more cold weather, let’s hope they’re wrong.

The diary is already pretty full for this week. Key meetings include a senior management meeting on strategic safety and one on external finance with Turriff’s bank.

Have a good week.

Davie

Hello and welcome to the first posting on my, as yet, unnamed blog. As announced in the Christmas newsletter there is a prize for the best name suggested for the blog, so get creative!

When talking to customers, I frequently make mention of Turriff’s ‘can-do’ attitude. This has been displayed yet again by our ability to mobilise, at short notice and for the second year in succession, a team of sixteen from Aberdeen to undertake emergency gas works for SGN in the South London area. Talking about ‘can-do’ and delivering ‘can-do’ are two different things; thanks once again to all the teams for their willingness to be flexible.

In recent days we have concluded the management review of health and safety, quality, and environmental performance. This isn’t a tick box exercise. The action plan and objectives generated by the review will be signed off this week and then communicated throughout Turriff, to our clients, and to our suppliers. I appreciate that for many this is a dry subject, but it is our performance in these key areas of service delivery that can set us apart.

The first of Turriff’s new prototype team vehicles has just gone into service. This idea was generated by Ellis in conjunction with an external service provider. The team vehicle sits on a standard 7.5 tonne flatbed chassis. Behind the cab is a fully enclosed work area, and behind that a mini-digger can be loaded onto the flatbed via an integral ramp. The new design does away with the need for a separate trailer, cutting down on fuel costs, reducing parking space needed on site, and improving safety. Once proven in service, further vehicles will be added to the fleet. I will share the feedback with all.

Have a good week.

Davie