Connectedmagazine I ssue 7 13th December 20 13

Have a story you’d like to share?

If so, note down what you’d like us to feature and send it across to us

with some pictures. You can reach the Connected team by sending

a mail to connected@mcnicholas.co.uk

A word from our CEO, Barry McNicholas

It has been another incredibly busy, but extremely

successful year with our partner Virgin Media on the

Super South contract. I would like to thank you all

for your hard work, commitment and dedication to

making this contract a success. Each and every one of

us makes a difference and your efforts are much

appreciated.

It has also been a very good year for safety with a very low accident rate

being achieved both in the VM contract and across the wider McNicholas

group. Sustainability has been really embraced by us all and you will find

in this issue an interesting article on the subject by our Head of

Sustainability, Emma Ward. Remember safety is our number one priority

and whatever we do both at work and at home, let’s do it safely.

Sadly, in May my Father and our President Tommy McNicholas passed

away. Tommy was incredibly proud of the work we do with Virgin Media

and many of you will have met him on his many site visits, or indeed when

he met Red at the Super Van launch in Hounsdown earlier this year.

Tommy was instrumental in the Cable TV boom of the 1980’s and many of

the VM networks we work on today were originally constructed by the

team he then led at McNicholas. His lasting legacy will be the respect he

always showed to all McNicholas employees, at all levels in our

organisation.

Next year is already looking positively busy, so please do enjoy the

Christmas break so you can come back fully refreshed and invigorated for

a successful 2014.

Thank you and Merry Christmas to you all.

Barry McNicholas, CEO

It’s Christmas It’s that time of year again! And we’d love to know what you’ve done to celebrate with McNicholas!

Christmas is a period to celebrate and this year, McNicholas will be

contributing £15.00 per person towards your Christmas celebrations! Your

Manager will be in contact regarding your local festivity arrangements.

We’d love to know what you and your team have planned for your

Christmas event. If you’re heading out and about, then make sure to take

plenty of pictures and send them to connected@mcnicholas.co.uk

Our respects are

paid to Tommy

McNicholas on

page 2

More about the

Lighthouse Club on

page 3

Keeping London up

to date on page 4

NPS is flying high on page 6

Duncan

Clayton is in

the spotlight

on page 8

Meet some of our

new starters on

page 9

How to get involved in

Decembeard on page 10

2

It was with great sadness that the

Directors of McNicholas Holdings and

the McNicholas family recently

announced the death of their President,

Tommy McNicholas.

Tommy passed away peacefully on the

8th May, after a sudden and brief illness.

Tommy had served McNicholas for 60

years and had led the business to be a

leader in the utilities and infrastructure

sector.

A legendary figure in the construction

industry, who dedicated 60 years of his

life to “Green Macs”, he had an uncanny

ability to identify potentially lucrative

new markets. This talent, together with

his vision and his wholehearted

commitment to what remains a family

firm today, made him a highly effective

business leader.

A people person, he liked nothing better

in his later years than to visit sites to talk

to the teams, reflecting his belief that

“the money was on the shovel.”

His father, Pat, escaped the poverty of

rural Ireland during the Depression by

moving from Bohola in County Mayo to

London where he took a job as a farm

labourer in Barnet.

Tommy, who had been born in London

in 1934, was at Finchley Grammar

School when his father founded

McNicholas Construction with Tommy’s

uncle, Michael, in 1949.

After school Tommy worked for

McAlpine’s, joining his father’s fledging

firm in 1953 where he learned the

business from the ground up – by

digging trenches. Tommy’s uncle

Michael left the business a few years

later to start McNicholas Cable &

Engineering (“Brown Macs”) but Tommy

was fully committed to the firm,

travelling all over the country often

working on contracts for the Post

Office’s burgeoning telecommunications

business. On a work trip to the East

Riding of Yorkshire he met Margaret,

the woman he was to marry in

1958. Tommy’s younger brothers Kevin,

Brian and Colin all joined the company

in time and its success as a family

business was cemented.

Tommy worked his way up to ganger

man and finally became Managing

Director in the mid-1960s, a time when

the London-based business began

expanding into the utilities sector. After

his father’s health began to decline,

Tommy became Chairman in the early

1970s.

This decade saw the company

increasingly involved in innovations in

civil engineering, for example exploiting

a licensed tunnelling system for sewers

and cables, and also for a period

dipping its toes into house building. It

also led Tommy to Brussels where he

lived for a time, heading international

expansion in Belgium and Holland

where the company’s new encapsulation

process to repair gas mains with resin-

impregnated wrappings was attracting

serious interest. In years to come

McNicholas was to become a major

player in the UK gas industry.

In 1980 his father died and Tommy

returned to the UK to lead the

expansion of the business into the gas

and water fields. Unlike his competitors,

Tommy saw the potential of cable TV,

then dominated by TV companies with

regional franchises. He had the courage

of his convictions and persuaded the

banks that this was a lucrative,

sustainable market worthy of serious –

and profitable – investment.

McNicholas became the leading cable

TV contractor in the UK, laying up to

80,000 metres of cable a week at the

height of the boom, enough to stretch

from Cornwall to London four times.

Expansion continued to dominate the

McNicholas agenda and the business

made progress not just in the UK but

also abroad, working in places as far

away as the USA and the Falklands.

In 2004 Tommy became the company’s

Life President and his son, Barry, became

Chief Executive in 2005. Barry said of his

father:” He was a modest man, like his

own father, who never lost sight of the

importance of spending time talking to

the teams on site. A common theme of

the tributes that we have received about

him is that he had time for everyone. He

was very well respected both for that

and for the fact that he was a successful

businessman without ever having to be

a ruthless one.”

His brother Kevin added:” He was a

strong character. It is no exaggeration to

say that he was the heart and soul of the

company”.

Away from work, Tommy was a keen

golfer. He developed and built the Ring

of Kerry Golf Course at Kenmare, near

Killarney in the same county where he

had a second home near the coast at

Glenbeigh where he spent most

summers with Margaret and their dog,

Kerry. He was a member of Hendon Golf

Club and Treasurer of the London Irish

Golfing Society.

He leaves a widow, two sons, a daughter

and eight grandchildren.

Tributes have been paid to Tommy

McNicholas, the man described as “the

heart and soul” of McNicholas

Construction, who has died aged 78.

Death of an Industry Legend

Tommy McNicholas

connected 3

McNicholas is an active member of the Lighthouse Club, The Lighthouse Club is

the construction industry’s charity and the Benevolent Fund provides financial

help to construction workers, and their families, who have fallen on hard times

through accidents, bereavement or ill health.

Steven McNicholas, Compliance Director, is a

member of the welfare team who assesses how best

The Lighthouse Club can help the families of these

construction workers, providing them with financial

assistance until they can get back on their feet.

In 2012 and 2013 McNicholas pledged to donate £1

for every near miss that was reported, to The

Lighthouse Club. In the financial year 2011-2012 we

received 2223 near misses. That’s the equivalent of

every employee taking the time to help prevent an

accident, with some reporting 2 or 3 potentially

unsafe situations.

2013 also saw the launch of the new Near Miss Feedback Boards. The boards,

designed by the lookout for safety group, have been implemented to provide all

sites with individual feedback on their near miss reports submitted, and have been

in use for approximately 6 months.

Since the launch, we can confirm that the number of near miss reports being

received continues to increase. 829 Near Miss Reports have been received from

the Comms Business Unit so far this year. This is excellent news.

Currently, as a Group for the year 2012-2013, we have received 1,555, but we still

have until March 2014 to beat last year’s total. So your near miss card will not only

help your own site, but also your fellow colleagues from the construction industry.

If you’d like to help the Lighthouse Club, you can buy a 2014 calendar using the form below:

Lighthouse Club 2014 Charity Calendar Order Form (alternatively, contact emma.ward@mcnicholas.co.uk to order)

Name:………………………………………………………… Contact Telephone Number:…………………………………….

Delivery Options: Collect from the Compliance Department at Elstree

Post to the following address:

Address Line 1 ………………………………………… Address Line 2 ………………………………………………...

Town/ City ………………………………………… Postcode …………………………………………………

Number of Calendars Required* ………………. Payment Method Cash** Cheque*** *calendars are priced at £5 each

**if paying by cash, your calendars must be collected, not delivered

*** if paying by cheque, please make payable to ‘The Lighthouse Club’ and enclose with the order form

The Lighthouse Club

4

In 2011 Virgin Media partnered with London

Underground to bring Wifi to a number of London

Underground stations, which means passengers can go

online in station ticket halls, corridors and platforms.

As Virgin Media’s partner, McNicholas have helped to

deliver 164 sites prior to the start of the Olympics. Our

civils and cabling work have also provided the

infrastructure for Wi-Fi and CCTV, used by the British

Transport Police, at key stations across London.

Post Olympics, McNicholas have delivered an

additional 59 stations to date with 49 still in the ‘work

in progress’ stage. Praise for the work undertaken by

McNicholas’ Communications business has been high

indeed with Transport for London’s CIO stating “The

work has seen collaboration between many individuals

and organisations, and has presented many challenges,

but the results you have accomplished and delivered

have been carried out in an extraordinary period of

time - doing in months that which would usually take

years. This has been a truly outstanding piece of

collaborative work”.

“Waterloo and Victoria terminals

handle 171 million passengers per

year, nearly 3x the population of

the entire UK”

Following this huge success with London

Underground, McNicholas have now been awarded

communications contracts for CrossRail, Europe’s

largest civil engineering project. We are currently

working at 13 delivery sites across the new CrossRail

network and have been tasked with running new fibre

optic cables for vital communications systems.

So how easy is it to work underground? Some of the

first sites the teams were tasked with installing were

Victoria and Waterloo terminals, collectively handling

over 171 million passengers per year (that’s nearly

three times the population of the entire UK). Because

of the huge numbers of people, all civils work has had

to be carried out over night.

Following the civils work, huge lengths of cabling

needed to then be routed and sent deep underground,

stretching from ticket halls, through corridors to

station platforms.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London had this to say about

the project; "We need to ensure London is able to

cement its position as Europe's leading digital city. Our

partnership with Virgin Media to make WiFi available

on Tube platforms will be of tremendous benefit as

building world class connectivity is critical to

supporting new businesses and the jobs they create,

especially in the high-tech and creative sectors,"

A fantastic project for McNicholas and another prime

example of great service to both Virgin Media and

Transport for London.

connected 5

In 2011 Virgin Media partnered with London

Underground to bring Wifi to a number of London

Underground stations, which means passengers can go

online in station ticket halls, corridors and platforms.

As Virgin Media’s partner, McNicholas have helped to

deliver 164 sites prior to the start of the Olympics. Our

civils and cabling work have also provided the

infrastructure for Wi-Fi and CCTV, used by the British

Transport Police, at key stations across London.

Post Olympics, McNicholas have delivered an

additional 59 stations to date with 49 still in the ‘work

in progress’ stage. Praise for the work undertaken by

McNicholas’ Communications business has been high

indeed with Transport for London’s CIO stating “The

work has seen collaboration between many individuals

and organisations, and has presented many challenges,

but the results you have accomplished and delivered

have been carried out in an extraordinary period of

time - doing in months that which would usually take

years. This has been a truly outstanding piece of

collaborative work”.

“Waterloo and Victoria terminals

handle 171 million passengers per

year, nearly 3x the population of

the entire UK”

Following this huge success with London

Underground, McNicholas have now been awarded

communications contracts for CrossRail, Europe’s

largest civil engineering project. We are currently

working at 13 delivery sites across the new CrossRail

network and have been tasked with running new fibre

optic cables for vital communications systems.

So how easy is it to work underground? Some of the

first sites the teams were tasked with installing were

Victoria and Waterloo terminals, collectively handling

over 171 million passengers per year (that’s nearly

three times the population of the entire UK). Because

of the huge numbers of people, all civils work has had

to be carried out over night.

Following the civils work, huge lengths of cabling

needed to then be routed and sent deep underground,

stretching from ticket halls, through corridors to

station platforms.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London had this to say about

the project; "We need to ensure London is able to

cement its position as Europe's leading digital city. Our

partnership with Virgin Media to make WiFi available

on Tube platforms will be of tremendous benefit as

building world class connectivity is critical to

supporting new businesses and the jobs they create,

especially in the high-tech and creative sectors,"

A fantastic project for McNicholas and another prime

example of great service to both Virgin Media and

Transport for London.

6

47.8%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

McNicholas Fujitsu Comex Kellys

For those of you that keep an eye on

our NPS performance you will have

seen something of a transformation

in the last 12 months. We’ve upped

our game and set new records not

only for McNicholas, but also for all

Partners working on the Virgin Media

Contract;

+48

OCTOBER

+36

So what’s changed?

Keeping things simple we immediately focused on

improving our internal communication. We’ve

listed below some of our steps to success:

Step 1 - We secured daily reporting from Virgin

Media instead of the weekly view. This immediately

gave us the opportunity to manage our customer

feedback and review our finding daily. We could

now give our field teams daily feedback on success

and areas of concern.

Step 2 - We started sending our

field technicians a text every time

a customer scored them a 10. Not

only is it great to get daily feedback from our

customers saying well done. It’s also a great

message for our technicians

as every 10 they score they

receive £10.

Step 3 - We introduced our

regional Champions League

tables to share the

successes of our field teams

with prizes for those at the

end of our season in

December this year.

Step 4 - our Cool Wall reporting was revamped to

again improve awareness of performance.

connected 7

+39

JUNE

MAY +48

+36 JULY

+31

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER +35

AUGUST So who’s the guy keeping everyone updated on a daily basis?

Our NPS Coordinator is Robin Baldwin based out of our Hounsdown office

“Hi, I took over from Abigail Martin in June 2013 and now look after everything NPS. I really enjoy

working with this team and hope that through great communication, clearer reporting and a better

understanding of NPS, everyone will be able to benefit. Moving into the closing months of 2013, I

look forward to assisting everyone on completing what has been a record breaking year for NPS”

Meet your NPS managers

Ensuring everything remains on track and everyone is following our processes are our NPS Customer

Experience Managers, Dave Sapstead and Geraint Davis. Dave covers the East of our region and

across to Surrey, whilst Geraint manages the West, along the M4 to Thames Valley.

Their objective is to ensure that each area manager has the information and tools to deliver a great

NPS performance through their team managers and technicians. Geraint and Dave hit the road daily

to offer support to technicians and make sure they are do everything needed to secure themselves a

10 score from their respective customer.

Geraint and Dave have also taken a part in rolling out the new Virgin Media ‘Voice of our brand’

launch. If you have any queries, or would like some help on how to achieve 10’s with your

customers, make sure to drop Dave or Geraint a call. Dave 07557 232 890 | Geraint 07717 631 190

Dave Sapstead

Geraint Davies

8

How long have you been a trainer?

Most of my working life has involved

providing training of some kind. At

Boots (aged 16) I used to train the

other staff on the new photographic

products and then later I used to

give lectures at local photographic

clubs and for local council run

photographic community groups.

However as a profession it’s now

been the best part of 14 years.

Who gives you inspiration?

For me it’s not just about whom but

also what gives me inspiration. I

think like many people immediate

family and friends often provide

inspiration and that’s true for me

but over the

years

I have been inspired by and drawn

inspiration from numerous areas

such books, people I’ve met, read

about or seen in the media, events

that have happened, Pictures and a

huge one for me has to be and

continues to be music.

What was your best work

moment?

I was quite humbled to be chosen for

this article, getting accreditation to

provide NRSWA training and

meeting people are all magic

moments for me however (and this

will probably read as being corny)

the best work “magic” moment for

me is in some way being able to

contribute to peoples development/

growth and all that can come for

that. For example, seeing people

joining the business, take on new

skills, start a new chapter in their life,

having them share information with

you and being let into their life for a

small moment in time is just magic.

Guess I get to have best magic

moments most of the time!

How has training changed over the

years?

Wow big question. Okay so if we

leave out the development of

theories and studies and I look

back over my time in training.

There has been a huge increase in

the use of ITC with in Learning and

development not only the equipment

we use for training but also in the

way that Learning & development

has been made accessible to people.

People are far more computer

literate which makes teaching them

about installing a wireless cable

modem and connecting to customer

devices so much easier.

Seeing the introduction of

“behaviours” into training was a

massive step forward and one most

welcome. One of those topics I won’t

go on about as it’s a bit of a passion

of mine.

The skill sets now required of certain

job roles has increased massively and

with that a change in training

expertise, back in the day if you

needed technical skills you were

taught by a technical trainer. If it was

interpersonal skills then it was a soft

skills trainer. Today the trainer needs

to be far more versatile in areas of

expertise.

Weren’t you in a band?

Yes, several during the 70’s,80’s and

90’s and had several singles, no real

chart success unfortunately, on our

own label via a distribution deal. Had

a lot of good times and met a lot of

good people as well as a few famous

ones!

Duncan on the Drums (Far Left)

SPOTLIGHT ON...

DUNCAN CLAYTON - SENIOR TRAINER

connected 9

New additions to the

McNicholas team and

Long Service Awards

DUNCAN CLAYTON - SENIOR TRAINER Pat Bowman - Head of Operations for Consumer

Chris Roberts - Business & Civils Supervisor

Long Service Awards

Pat joined McNicholas on 14th January 2013. Pat joined us from Virgin Media

where he spent over 20 years in numerous roles at Head of Department level. Since

joining McNicholas Pat has taken the lead for our Customer Experience Team which

has seen us deliver an improved performance across 2013 delivering a record score

of +48 in May. In July Pat also took the lead as Head of Consumer which again is

starting to see new performance records set. According to Gary and the senior

consumer team Pat has also set some records for eating. One tip for everyone don’t

invite Pat if you have a buffet ordered. When not at work you can catch Pat on his

mountain bike, watching his son play rugby or his daughter horse riding.

Chris originally joined McNicholas from an agency and supervised the civils element

of the LGFL project. He was a key figure and instrumental in the issues that we

endured in the Bexley borough and worked very closely with our client (VM) and

the local authority. Chris was subject to the need for reduction of staff and

unfortunately left us, however he was taken on by one of our supply chain and

continued to work on the VM contract in the South East area covering all civils

aspects. Chris then returned to us on a permanent basis in October, supervising all

work streams in the West London area.

Dave Wilkins

presents Aidan

Crowe with his

award.

Richard Horne

presents

Caroline Keal

with her award.

Gary Dunleavy

Donnie Whyte

David Mohide

Aidan Crowe

David Waters

Nigel Hobbs

Dominic Baines

Andrew Corness

Leigh Weir

Kenneth Litchfield

Arthur Parker

Caroline Keal

20 Years 15 Years

10 Years

10

McNicholas Rewards "Win your Christmas Dinner" Competition Winner! We are pleased to announce that the lucky winner of the McNicholas

Rewards competition was Barry Birmingham, who works on our Virgin

Media contract in Andover. Barry wins £100 on either a Marks and Spencer,

ASDA or Sainsbury’s card – congratulations!

For those of you who didn’t win, remember that with McNicholas Rewards

you can still have access to discounts and special offers from over 3000

retailers. With the ability to buy online, in-store or by phone you really could

be saving hundreds of pounds each year on those purchases you are already

making and, at this time of year, those special Christmas gifts.

Visit www.mcnicholasrewards.co.uk or call the McNicholas Rewards Helpdesk on 0845 299 0908 to register

and see how McNicholas Rewards can help your hard earned money go further.

Niamh Elizabeth Rose Pilgrim (top right) was born 6th June to Elly Steel

who works at the Hounsdown Office.

Rosalind Smith (bottom right) was born on the 15th October to Claire

Smith who also works at Hounsdown.

New Arrivals

Wedding Bells! Mark Reddaway, Project Co-ordinator

based in Rainham for the Comms

division has been with his girlfriend Louise

for 7 years. On the 6th of December the

couple were married at Gaynes Park in

Epping. 4x4’s were hired for travel in case

of snow!

Novembers GEM Winners Congratulations to November GEM winner, Michael Cooper, a consumer team manager for Guildford. Michael

wowed a customer with great product knowledge and fantastic customer service!

And congratulations Dave Waters, a commissioning engineer working with the business & civils team. Here’s what

a VM customer had to say about Dave: “Just a quick thanks for going the extra mile last weekend and finding ISDN

On Net availability in LD4 - which ever way you look at it you were instrumental in allowing me to provide a truly

diverse and redundant telephony solution for Asurion.”

Both winners will receive a certificate as well as £25 of shopping vouchers! Remember, if anyone has wowed

you or a customer by doing something fantastic, nominate them for a GEM by sending their details to

Congratulations to Adam Llewellyn and Duncan Hatch

Congratulations to Adam (top right) and Duncan (bottom right) for being

identified by Virgin as the best performers in their area. Adam and Duncan

have both received VM polo shirts from the area AFM to reward them for

their great performance! Well done Adam and Duncan!

connected 11

Your community need you!

Did you know that McNicholas offers all

employees one days paid leave per year to

undertake volunteer work? Here’s the lowdown

on what it’s all about…

Why do McNicholas offer this to employees?

Volunteering forms part of our Sustainability

Strategy, ‘The ‘S’ Word’. Sustainability is about

companies taking responsibility for their

environmental and social impacts and looking

for ways to improve. McNicholas decided to offer

one days paid leave to employees not only because

it helps the Company build relationships with the

local community, but people who volunteer can use

the skills that they have developed at work to help

the community; learn new skills and improve their

morale, physical health and work-life balance. Don’t

underestimate how great volunteering can make you

feel knowing you are making a difference.

I’ve chosen my charity, what next?

Employees who wish to take advantage of the one days paid leave per year should apply to their Manager using

the ‘Holiday and Other Leave’ booking form. This will then be reviewed in conjunction with a member of the HR

team. Remember, in order to make a successful application, you need to demonstrate that you are doing genuine

volunteer work so do your homework first.

Share your story

We would love to be able to share your volunteering story with others and create a case study on what you did

and how the charity benefited. Not only is it a great way of raising awareness of the good cause you have

supported but you may encourage more people to take the initiative.

For more information on volunteering, please speak to your HR Manager or contact Emma Ward, Group

Sustainability Manager; emma.ward@mcnicholas.co.uk

What can I do?

The Company supports employees who are

undertaking community or charitable activities

including:

community care work;

environmental work and conservation

projects;

fundraising for community projects or

charities; and

the administration of public events.

You may already have a charity that is close to

your heart, but if not, there are plenty of

volunteering websites to help you decide. Why

not take a look at www.volunteering.org.uk/

iwanttovolunteer as a starting point?

As you will all know, active participation and

support of registered charities is a key

deliverable of the McNicholas sustainability

strategy. As part of this, we have decided to take

part in this years’ Decembeard initiative.

The main aim of this initiative is to raise

awareness of bowel cancer whilst raising vital

funds for charities associated with the condition. You may not be aware but

Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK. You can find

more information at their website www.beatingbowelcancer.org.

Thank you so much for our early contributors and those who are braving

the festive period with whiskers, we have raised an impressive £2,300 so

far and for every £1 raised through our JustGiving page:

www.justgiving.com/McNicholas | McNicholas will match the donation!

We already have a fine collection of submitted photos posted on our

intranet but obviously need many more! Keep in touch and submit your

photos through decembeard@mcnicholas.co.uk