‘REELIN’ IN THE YEARS’ AG WILSON - 44 YEARS OF GROWTH THROUGH EXPERIENCE

Steely Dan’s song ‘Reelin’ in the Years’ seems to be about taking hold of life experiences, claiming them, and learning from them. That concept encapsulates the success story that is AG Wilson Civil Engineering. Most people working in construction and civil engineering understand that business growth and direction are often influenced by public sector policies. So it was for Bertie Wilson. He had started his working life as an employee of the Lurgan Water Board, but when the old structure was changed to a centralised Water Executive within the Department for the Environment in 1974, Bertie decided it was time to experience civil engineering in the private sector. He worked with several firms, including McCartan & McAteer, where his first job was the construction of the Warrenpoint Ferry booth. In 1979, Bertie Wilson decided to start up his own firm and AG Wilson was formed as a partnership with his wife Shirley. “That was a time of much greater opportunity and potential than now and I was keen to forge www.agwilsoncivilengineering.com my own path,” said Bertie. “My first Contract was on a road scheme at Lenaderg. That was over 40 years ago, and AG Wilson has thrived and diversified over that time to the company we have today. I started off with just the one digger – a Poclain 90. Now we have nearly 40 diggers, so that tells a story in itself”.

The company was founded on its current site at Upper Ballyduggan, starting off in a dwelling house. The yard was added in 1981 and the office, built in two phases, the first in 2008 and the second in 2017, which doubled the building’s capacity. Currently, 14 people work in the office while around 70 staff work on-site. There are now 11 civil engineers in the company in Northern Ireland and six in Scotland. AG Wilson prides itself on the fact that they have the ability to self deliver projects, as the vast majority of its workers are directly employed. In 2010 the company became incorporated and later in 2015 Berties son Derek and childhood friend Richard Chambers joined the board of directors. Both had been working for the company since leaving full time education and together injected a strong leadership approach to diversifying the business.

Fitting Into The Framework

Another change in governmental policy in Northern Ireland marked an opportunity for AG Wilson. In 2007, the NI Water Executive was restructured as an executive agency, the Northern Ireland Water Service (now simply called NI Water). Following this, the NI Water Framework was introduced whereby, instead of each contract going out to individual tender, NI Water appointed a small number of main contractors to undertake its programmes of work. AG Wilson was one of those main contractors and has retained that status through subsequent iterations of the Water Framework.

“This was of great significance to AG Wilson, as it meant we knew we were guaranteed work for five years,” commented Bertie.

Downturn To Upturn

The economic downturn of 2008 was a challenging time across all business sectors and construction suffered badly. “Before the downturn, we relied on subcontract work for a significant part of our business, and we realised that, while it was great to have the work, this was a potential weakness in our business model,” said Richard Chambers. “We wanted to be in a position to win main contracts in our own right.” This gave the company a renewed focus on qualifications, accreditations and affiliations that would boost its standing in the construction industry and bring it to another level. Now, all AG Wilson’s projects are delivered through third-party, accredited management systems. The company is NQA ISO 9001. 14001 and 45001 and UKAS management systems and SSIP accredited.

Company Directors

AG Wilson is also a Constructionline (Silver), CITB register employer and a member of the Construction Employers Federation. These accreditations qualified AG Wilson to tender for and win more and larger, government contracts and the subcontracting work is now only a small part of the business. Along the way, AG Wilson embraced opportunities for diversification, harnessing the demand for renewable energy sources including hydropower projects, anaerobic digesters, solar and wind power projects.

Scottish Expansion

AG Wilson’s presence in Scotland evolved organically as Richard Chambers and Derek Wilson took on contracts in Scotland. One project led to another as their reputation grew and AG Wilson has now had a presence in Scotland for 20-plus years. Clients include various Local Authorities, Gleesons , and a large range of projects for Scottish Water, which include major pipework installations, cementing the company’s expertise in large diameter fusion welding. Derek Wilson recalled one particular project for Caledonian Water which required fusion welding on a 7 km stretch of 1,000mm diameter pipes. AG Wilson’s reputation in fusion welding is such that this is one area of the business where specialist subcontracting services are still undertaken.