In Conversation With….Jarrod Best and Jim Shann of GMI Construction

AS GMI Construction celebrates its 25th anniversary, Ian Briggs meets two key players from the business and discovers a bright future for one of Yorkshire’s most recognised property names.

JARROD Best is an example of meritocracy at work.

The 34-year-old has worked at construction, development and engineering services group GMI Construction since leaving school.

Starting out as what he describes as a “tea lad” on building sites, Mr Best has risen up the company’s internal ladder to become managing director.

It’s a career path that Mr Best believes lies at the heart of the company’s longevity: rewarding those who work hard and prosper.

“The whole ethos of the company hasn’t changed over time,” says Mr Best, who meets TheBusinessDesk.com at GMI Construction’s offices in south Leeds.

“However, we’ve all recognised that you have to modernise and move with what people do. Historically we’ve done commercial building but today we’ve got a wide portfolio.”

Mr Best is part of a new, younger breed of executive coming to the fore at GMI Construction, but he admits he still has plenty to learn from the team that has helped the company to get to where it is today.

He is especially keen to carry on being guided by chief executive Jim Shann, who although still in an executive role at the firm, has handed much of the day-to-day responsibility of the business to Mr Best.

“Keep it simple – that’s what Jim’s always said to me,” says Mr Best. “And don’t be greedy. Every penny we make gets invested back into the construction business.”

Despite going through some of the same problems as other property businesses during the downturn, including having to lose staff, GMI Construction is confident about its prospects and is recruiting again.

It has boasted a turnover of more than £100m over the last three years and its marketing material describes the company as “financially robust” – a phrase passionately backed up by Mr Shann.

“We haven’t spent everything we’ve earnt; we’ve got a strong financial background,” said Mr Shann. “You have to have a strong financial background in the construction industry now. But it’s not the company that’s changed; it’s the industry.”

However, Mr Best (right) admits the climate has been challenging over the last three years as funding has been tight for many projects.

But he believes one of GMI Construction’s key advantages over its competitors is that its directors take a major involvement in projects for clients including Abbey National, Arla Foods, Next, Tesco, Comet and Homebase.

Another is that many of the staff have been with the company, which employs around 55 full-time staff, for more than 10 years and that has enabled GMI Construction to build up trusted relationships with partners.

Mr Best said: “Historically we’ve looked at ourselves as a builder. But we’ve actually engrained ourselves within the community.

“We’ve worked over the last 12 months with people we’ve worked with over the last 25 years and we’ve achieved an awful lot more (over the company’s history) than we thought we ever could.

“If you stick with the people you work with and the right partners and deliver the right product to the right standard clients will stick with you.

“Over the last six to 12 months the really experienced developers see that builders do more than just build. They see them as a developer partner.”

Although agreeing that GMI Construction’s long standing relationships are important, Mr Shann also believes adaption is key to success.

“You’ve got to deliver something different these days,” he said. “If you don’t get a different outlook you’re dead.”

Serving a portfolio of public and private sector clients throughout the UK, the company’s track record is spread across multiple sectors including office building and commercial, construction of industrial space, hotels and accommodation, business and retail parks, sports and leisure, through to school and civic building development.

Core business areas include design, build, refurbishment, fit-out and remediation.

Over the years it has built some of Yorkshire’s most iconic structures including the East Stand at Elland Road in 1991 and work with other football clubs, police forces, councils and educational authorities.

Last week, TheBusinessDesk.com reported that GMI Construction had won the right to be main contractor on Rotherham United’s new 12,000 seater arena and live projects include a new civic centre for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council and the vacated Sellers Engineers 48,000 sq ft site will now be redeveloped to enable the realisation of the £150m flagship Huddersfield Waterfront Quarter development.

Commenting on the current market, Mr Shann adds: “If it’s (a project) up for grabs you go for anything at the moment. But as long as it works for all parties it works.”

Mr Best adds: “I think that approach will come back. People are always going to want buildings because they need them. But undoutedly now there’s going to be a flight to quality.”

Mr Best says despite the public sector squeeze, GMI Construction has won various projects in the sector.

Speaking about GMI Construction’s last 25 years, Mr Shann, a founding partner in the business, which is separate to commercial property development company GMI Property, part of the GMI Group, says: “There’s never been a time when I’ve gone home and thought ‘we won’t be here tomorrow’.

“We’ve never been rocky, we’ve always been quite secure. Even now, people are still looking for a good, honest builder than can deliver a project.”

Mr Shann, who doesn’t believe many start-up companies in the construction sector can be successful in today’s climate, is also adamant that the future of the business lies in the talent coming through.

“It’s a matter of trying to see some of the potential in people,” he adds. “We’ve got to see these lads mature and see if they’re challenged and doing it and want to do it.”

And it’s a sentiment Mr Best concurs with: “You can’t undersell the fact that no matter how much you put in, at the end of the day it’s the guys on the ground that make it all happen.

“My enjoyment at the moment is that everybody wants to succeed and they want it now. I’ve been here a long time and feel I’ve only just started.

“You can’t just have a team of people who are individuals. That is the great thing about GMI: everybody has always been happy to be part of a team.”