KZN’s Grid Group believes in using today’s ideas to solve today’s challenges in construction—and it is already working out tomorrow’s solutions as well, as Ruari McCallion discovers.
Bruce Winship, CEO of construction enterprise Grid Group, is a bit puzzled at the way some companies in the industry operate. “We notice a lot of our competitors are using last year’s logic for next year’s business. I’m amazed to see other companies using outdated ideas,” he says. “Trends are shifting: the businesses that align themselves to the new realities are the ones that will survive.”
Grid Group is involved with some leading construction projects in South Africa, such as the environmentally-efficient Grideye office park in Riverhorse Valley, KwaZulu Natal; the Porsche Umhlanga Building (for which it won recognition for excellence at the Master Builders Association Excellence in Construction Annual Awards ceremony) and The Aspect and The Cube mixed-use developments at Umhlanga Ridge. The company was formed in 1967 and has been owned and led by Bruce Winship and his family for the past 22 years.
“Grideye is our flagship project at the moment,” says Winship. “It is one of the prime buildings in South Africa with a ‘green’ flavour. We brought some professionals over from America to assist us in developing the building and park.” The building itself is designed to be energy-efficient and to have low emissions. Although it is located close to the N2 highway, the nature of its surroundings have been maintained, even to the extent of creating a landscape that is intended to invite hippos back to the area. A wide array of bird species, including pelicans, fish eagles and flamingos can be seen in the Mhlangane River area. Views of riverland and grazing are not the norm for office buildings—but it has been argued that they lead to lower staff turnover, better morale and, therefore, improved productivity.
“Our design and construction philosophy with Grideye is aligned with the USA’s LEED approach; but the Green Building Corporation (GBC) of South Africa’s guidelines are probably more in line with the Australian model,” he continues. “We firmly believe that ‘green’ building helps with social upliftment, as well as being financially efficient.”
Grid Group’s market is primarily focused in Durban and the KwaZulu Natal region. The company employs around 450 people directly, covering the whole range of activities associated with construction, from general labourers all the way up to architects, designers and managerial roles. At any one time, it may have thousands of contractors working on its projects. Its revenues are in the region of R1 billion (approaching £100 million), which makes it one of the larger construction companies in South Africa. Just as its people cover the whole range of construction, so do the companies within the group—Grid Developments, Grid Construction and Grid Rentals. It began as a construction business; it now offers project management, small works, residential homes, rentals and commercial and office space.
Winship believes the company sets itself apart by focusing on costing and personnel. “We built ourselves up and have gone from strength to strength on a day-by-day basis, through having the right people and working in the right places,” he says. “We ensure we have the right competencies and capabilities at every stage. We are careful to select the right partners, including banks and architects, and are focused on delivering the projects the market requires.”
Many construction companies would say the same thing, if they were asked a similar question—however, Winship has more to offer on his company’s behalf. “Our costing models are very efficient,” he says. “Our expectations of our people are very high and we can bring a lot of efficiencies to the table, such as in the area of design expertise. We start with market-related costings and then move backwards through the process and do whatever is needed in order to ensure effective delivery. We need to be innovative and we build that on our experience in the market. We have been around for quite some time and our size and work volumes mean that our suppliers give us good prices. We pass the savings we achieve on to the end user or to companies within the group.”
One of the banes of construction is lack of co-ordination between different activities—the industry is rife with stories of partially-finished buildings being taken apart again in order for services to be installed. It’s about co-ordination; and it’s an area where Grid Group achieves savings by thinking things through effectively. “Scheduling is one of the biggest challenges in the industry,” he confirms. “The arrival of services and plant requirements is about timing. It boils down to a proactive attitude and that is something we insist on. We are a service industry and our obligation is to deliver the goods. Complaining doesn’t achieve it. We co-operate across the board; we flag up potential scheduling conflicts early. We are team players and we build a proactive attitude through communicating. We don’t point fingers and seek to assign blame; we ensure information flow.”
Communication includes co-operation and co-ordination with suppliers—but not at the expense of sound business sense. “We know the market and the players in it,” Winship says. “We constantly check and re-check costings and the tender range of suppliers and contractors and work hard to ensure they and we are aligned. What happens is that we tend to end up working with the same people who understand our ethos: if you don’t deliver, you don’t get work in the future.”
In addressing the skills shortage in South Africa, Grid Group trains people in-house, all the way from general labourers to management. If a low-level recruit shows ability and the right attitude, Grid Group will provide the route for them to develop themselves. While it is a white-owned company, it is working to achieve higher qualification under black empowerment legislation, particularly by partnering with other companies.
“We take a strategic approach and create a lot of our own markets,” concludes Winship. “Grid Group has a philosophy of continuous improvement—that applies to our company, our market and the way we deliver our service.” www.grid.co.za
