Brandwells – success built on reputation
Brandwells Construction was founded by Andy Dowden in 1973. We have since grown to become one of the most highly-regarded building and groundworks companies in the South West and South Wales, handling contracts worth more than £55 million annually. We have developed an enviable reputation for openness and fair dealing, and are known for our dedication to quality, training and health & safety.
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Setting standards for value
Brandwells is well known for the innovative techniques we use to secure value for money for the client on each project. Our VFM approach is an industry leader. We have developed sophisticated software which can be used to appraise initial groundworks plans and suggest costed alternatives based on ‘what if’ scenarios, producing full bills of quantities with accurate costings. We also apply value engineering techniques to help our clients cut costs through the adoption of cheaper but equally effective alternatives.
How Brandwells delivers exceptional VFM
The groundworks phase is the biggest part of a new-build project, particularly a housing development – and the most important. At Brandwells we can introduce contract savings from the outset by planning a groundworks solution which will deliver the best value for money – often far better than clients realise is possible.
VFM in action
The design for a housing scheme indicated that (10,000) cu metres of spoil/earth would have to be removed from the site at a cost of over (£100,000) in transport and landfill charges. We revised the design to raise levels across the site by (30cm), allowing the spoil to be accommodated on site. The cost of raising the levels was far less than the cost of removing the excess material.
Surface water drainage is a key issue with many sites because the natural soakaway effect is removed by the introduction of buildings and paved areas. Our surveys on one project showed that after heavy rainfall, a concentrated flow of rainwater would discharge into a narrow watercourse, with the risk of local flooding.
We designed and constructed underground attenuation tanks for temporary water storage, to allow the excess water to be released to the environment at a manageable discharge rate – an invisible and cost-effective solution.
Quality Management Systems
Brandwells has upgraded its Quality Management System to the latest standard ISO9001:2015
Charitable Support
Brandwells Construction is committed to supporting local charities, whether through sponsorship of events, clubs or fundraising initiatives. For 2022 we committed £37,000 in support of nine charities nominated by members of staff or directors: The Bristol Children’s Charity: The Pituitary Foundation: The Downs Syndrome Association: Empire Fighting Chance: Acorns Children’s Hospice: Queens Hall Action on Poverty: Cefn Glas (Housing Care for Older People): Llys Caradog Children’s Centre, and finally the Knowle West Health Association. In addition we helped raise funds for other smaller charities and local sports clubs.
The company is the team
All our people – from accounts, estimating and administrative staff to managing and site personnel – are committed to ensuring we do the best job possible. We have structured the company to encourage interaction and mutual respect at all levels. Our clients appreciate the level of commitment this brings and the involvement we give. Read more about our team
Excellence in training
Brandwells has an exemplary record for training and staff development. We now have 100% of our workforce and site staff accredited under the The Construction Skills Certification Scheme. We have a dedicated Training Coordinator, Dawn Elvin and we keep up standards through our commitment to safety and training, ensuring a safe working environment for our site workforce, staff and management.
Read more about training and careers at Brandwells.
Technology
Our progress with EDI (electronic digital interchange) has won the praise of the Department of Trade and Industry, following a report for the Department by management consultants Strategem which highlighted Brandwells as a leader in the field within the construction industry.
See Stratagem Report (download)
On site we use the latest state of the art Trimble instruments for setting out and surveying.
Brandwells and the Environment
Brandwells is one of the most progressive construction companies in matters of environmental protection and sustainability. We are now delivering projects built to the new highest rating under the new Code 6, which measures the sustainability of a new home against categories of sustainable design, rating properties from 1 to 6 stars according to the level of sustainability. To further demonstrate our committment to the environment Brandwells is now accredited to ISO14001:2015