Owen Pugh make £80k technology investment

North East construction firm The Owen Pugh Group has invested £80k in surveying equipment to help it deliver work more efficiently.

The contractor has bought five new Trimble Universal Total Stations (UTS) - a device used to take site measurements and allow operators to trim large dimensional areas to millimetre accuracies.

Owen Pugh’s 38-strong contracts team will use the equipment across their earthmoving, demolition, reclamation, remediation, recycling, civil engineering and landfill operations.

The instruments will be used for a range of regional site work including ongoing work on Cramlington Hospital, at Blaydon Shopping Centre and a project to improve the junction at A19/A174.

The full capability of the new equipment was recently put to the test when surveying Owen Pugh’s Marsden Quarry site when three of the instruments were used in the same location simultaneously.

Martin Forster, general manager of Owen Pugh Contracts, said: “The investment in the new, upgraded Trimble surveying equipment is already reaping dividends.

“The improvements are significant with the search speed being much quicker. The fact that we can also use them in the same area at the same time allows multiple engineers to survey or set out on one site without any interference, is also a major bonus in terms of the time taken to complete a project, which means that we are able to operate much more efficiently.

“Additional benefits are that the battery usage is much lower, and one battery usually lasts a full day. Overall the new equipment is a huge benefit and well worth the investment.”

The move is the latest in a long line of investment for Owen Pugh in recent months. In January the company opened a new £900k depot in Gateshead to accommodate the expansion of its civil engineering division and it purchased £750k of plant machinery to improve on-site efficiencies across the business at the end of last year.

John Dickson, chairman of the Owen Pugh Group, said: “Our approach is to prioritise the long-term increase in value over the short term achievement of profit.

“Owen Pugh continues on its growth trajectory and is building a solid base for the business in the future by investing in assets and improving capabilities and efficiencies across the business.”