7 minute read
Delivering growth during a pandemic
Paul O’Donnell, Managing Director of Pod-Trak, on building on the success of the past 15 years
This year is already guaranteed to be a milestone year for the Managing Director of Pod-Trak. It will be 15 years since Paul O’Donnell set up the infrastructure services business – and he will also be celebrating his 40th birthday.
One thing Paul won’t have imagined back when he was operating out of a van, while his fiancée Brenda (now wife) did the books at the kitchen table, was having to steer the business through a pandemic. But that is just another hurdle that he has overcome, with the company seeing in excess of 20 per cent growth in 2021.
“2021 has been a difficult year and we’ve had to adapt to the constantly changing rules around COVID, and that is something I think we are going to have to manage and work with for some time going forward,” Paul said.
“But I am very happy with how we’ve performed as a team and how we have overcome some of these challenges throughout the business, while maintaining our safety record. We have increased shareholding in the marketplace and also delivered some fantastic high-profile projects.”
Vast skill set The Pod-Trak team are engineering specialists within the rail and infrastructure environments, experienced in working on a vast range of infrastructure from planning through delivery on main line, tram line and the underground.
This has been further strengthened over the course of the past 12 months with the successful involvement in several high-profile projects. These include an important role in the demolition of 11 platforms at Kings Cross, depot maintenance work for Hitachi, work on the Werrington underpass installed under the East Coast main line, as well as the ongoing MerseyRail and Transport for London projects.
“It is only really when you take a step back and reflect on the projects we’ve been working on in the past year that you can really appreciate how successful the year has been, and we are looking forward to a healthy year going forward,” said Paul.
“The key to the success has been knuckling down and, during the height of the pandemic, reassessing the situation daily and weekly to see what was going to be the best way forward in keeping our colleagues safe and getting the work done. We’ve also diversified a bit into some utilities work, so that has helped as well.
“We’re more open now to remote working, whereas before we thought everybody had to be in the office.
“That’s probably the biggest change – it has opened eyes that some people can work remotely from time to time and we have adopted some of our learnings.
“Overall we’ve continued to cement our place as a safe pair of hands and the go-to company to deliver what we say we’ll deliver safely and efficiently. Our growth has been through reputation – something that gets stronger and stronger.”
An exciting development last year was the decision to diversify into a different market with the launch of Pod-Trak Networks. It predominantly specialises in the delivery of projects within the telecoms and highways industry with the potential to venture into other utility sectors.
“This has allowed Pod-Trak to acquire a new client – CityFibre – that is installing new fibre networks to homes nationally,” said Paul.
“CityFibre has secured more than £5 billion of private investment with planned works over the next six years. Our first project award was the town of Lowestoft in East Anglia. This project gives us the platform to grow this division alongside our railsystems divisions and helps us transfer skills in quieter times. With this as our starting point, we are also looking at a number of other opportunities that we are currently discussing with various new clients in this space.”
Feels like family Despite the continued growth – with the company turning over in excess of £40 million – one thing Paul is adamant doesn’t change is the family feel of the organisation and its commitment to safety.
The organisation is looking to relaunch its Plan Attitude Lead Share (PALS) scheme early this year, alongside the continuing development of the POD app, which now allows for supervisor inspections and shift reports to be done.
Paul said: “The data received through close calls and good calls is allowing us to focus our attention on key high-risk areas with the aim of identifying risks and mitigating them before they cause harm.
“We initially launched the PALS safety culture programme about three-and-a-half years ago and it was very successful at the start, but has died down a little during the pandemic.
“Our external consultant completed a safety culture survey, which has now been analysed and fed back to the business, and PALS will become a primary feature in the business in 2022 with regular workshops and engagement sessions.
“We have a family feel around the company and talking to staff revealed the importance that PALS isn’t an ‘off the shelf’ cultural improvement programme and is bespoke to the needs of Pod-Trak.”
As well as keeping its current staff safe, Paul is passionate about creating a platform for the next generation of workers. As well as strong graduate and apprenticeship schemes, he has also spearheaded an initiative to encourage young people to consider a career in rail.
Looking ahead Pod-Trak is working with universities to identify candidates who might be suitable for various roles across the business through online events in which both the senior team and a group of graduates give younger people a first-hand opinion on what to expect and key tips for considering a career in the industry.
“It has been a huge success and we have found some great candidates, with three starting with us this month,” he said.
“With a potential skills shortage in the future we are really keen to promote the industry, show the wealth of opportunities and give those interested an opportunity to work in the industry.
“There’s a lot of people in the industry with a lot of knowledge but there hasn’t been as many coming into the industry over the past 10 years, so we need to open it up and make it a place people want to work.
“It is also incredibly rewarding seeing the new recruits develop and thrive. They can also teach us an awful lot because they just have a whole different outlook on life.”
The Pod-Trak journey got under way in 2007, with Paul’s initial aim to become a subcontractor with a small team.
Fast-forward to 2022 and the company now employs 300 people, has offices in London, Manchester, Bristol and Doncaster, and operates throughout the UK and Ireland.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the way in which the team embraces family. Paul’s wife Brenda still works in the office keeping an eye on administration and finances, and if you pop in at the weekend you will often find their three children helping out with the filing.
“I am incredibly proud of what has been achieved,” said Paul. “The family – both the immediate and the wider Pod-Trak family – have been brilliant and what has been achieved is thanks to a lot of hard work from a lot of good people.
“Pod-Trak continues to be driven by a passion to grasp those opportunities, offering bespoke engineering solutions to clients across the UK and Ireland who seek an innovative approach to the construction and maintenance of our infrastructure.
“This is a business that continues to go places and has a strong reputation for consistently delivering safely and delivering incredibly well.”
