Building bridges to a brighter future

The Tyne Bridge.

Newcastle’s iconic landmark; Geordies’ bridge of honour.

An engineering and construction masterpiece that took almost three years to construct a century ago, it still stretches proudly across the River Tyne to this day.

From a distance, the famous arch remains the glorious symbol of the Toon, gleaming green in the sunshine.

But get closer, and you can see the rust and decay that has taken hold over many years since previous major repair works were carried out.

Inclement weather, constant traffic and protected birds have left their marks on the Grade II-listed structure, which was first crossed by the King and Queen’s horse-drawn carriage on October 10, 1928.

Look closer still – as experts have been doing for months – and the sheer scale of repairing and repainting the globally-recognised creation becomes even more evident.

So, for the next four years, the bridge will be under cover, under repair and under the careful watch of Esh Group.

Overseeing it all, along with a team of industry experts, is Andy Radcliffe, chief executive of the Bowburn-headquartered company.

Today, his site visit takes an unfamiliar route, arriving at the Gateshead-side tower on foot down Shore Road, where he is greeted by project manager Gareth Dawson and his team.

They are heading up to the scaffolding and tarpaulin that covers the listed structure.

Working in cramped conditions over layers of scaffolding, the team are grit blasting years of previous paint coatings, repairing damaged steelwork and re-applying the crossing’s distinguishable green.

Andy has seen enough on previous visits to know there are long days and nights ahead for the Esh team, as they tackle one of the region’s most challenging restoration projects.

He tells N magazine: “It was always going to be a journey of discovery.

“The initial stages of this job were to get inside the bridge and understand the extent of the repairs required.

“The designers of the structural work get a broad view during their investigations, but that is done on a sample basis and we only really get the true picture once we get into the structure.

“And it varies.

“There are sections which aren’t in bad condition.

“But there are others where standing water has led to a lot of corrosion.

“One of the challenges with the bridge is that the structure can’t take the weight of scaffolding across the entire span, so the scaffold solution will be installed in more than 20 phases.

“Eventually, on the bridge, there will be an encased tunnel for people to walk and drive through.

“While more than 139,000 litres of paint will be used – enough to fill 850 beer barrels – there are also more than 1000 repairs to be undertaken.

“The list is huge; it’s far more than ‘just a lick of paint’.”

And the bridge is more than just another project, another catalogue of jobs to identify and rectify.

For Esh Group, and Andy too, it is something far greater.

The mammoth programme of works is symbolic of how far the construction firm – whose origins lie just a few miles away in County Durham mining heartland – has come.

A lot has changed since the 1970s when one of its founding companies, Lumsden & Carroll Civil Engineering, was established in the pit village of Esh Winning.

Today, with a number of mergers and acquisitions having since bolstered operations,

Esh Group is a 750-strong employer, the Tyne Bridge a headline order book scheme and a source of great pride for its local workforce.

It would too, says Andy, have brought great delight to its former chief executive Brian Manning.

A little more than seven years ago, before his retirement, Brian appointed Andy, then the group’s chief financial officer, as his successor.

Sadly, the enigmatic Brian passed during the transition period.

Andy says: “I imagine Brian would have been so proud of Esh’s name being linked with the restoration of an icon like the Tyne Bridge.

“He was an immense character and a very clever man, who drove Esh from very humble beginnings to the size of the business we are today – with turnover approaching £300 million per year.

“When he handed over to me and the team, he was going to take on a chair’s role, but he sadly passed away very quickly.

“I felt in a little bit of a lonely place to start with, but I think Brian saw in me a strategic thinker who could visualise the next stage of the business, and go ahead and execute on it.

“We needed a longer term vision, and that’s exactly what the team and I set about creating.”

The immediate task was to restructure the company, reducing 20 divisions down to four: civil engineering, affordable housing, commercial build and Homes by Esh, the latter a private housebuilding division that is primed to nearly double its number of live developments in the North East this year.

The leaner and simpler portfolio centres on work for local authorities, utility and environmental companies, registered affordable housing providers and the private housing sector.

And its reach is extensive.

Esh’s live catalogue includes work alongside Karbon Homes to deliver the first phase of 750 affordable properties at Seaham Garden Village and the creation of more than 500 affordable units across three Teesside sites for Thirteen Group.

In Stockton, the firm’s civil engineering teams are working with council bosses to transform the town’s high street from a retail hub into a sprawling waterfront urban park.

The contractor has also secured a place on five capital delivery frameworks with Northumbrian Water Group and the Environment Agency.

Andy says: “We set about a very forensic analysis to understand the market, how different segments behave, how we wanted to participate in those segments and then set about designing a business model to do that.

“There were some difficult decisions and some choppy waters.

“It took more than three years, and it’s been hard.

“It has only been possible due to the skill and dedication of our senior team, and the vast array of talented people we have in the business.

“We also didn’t expect a global pandemic to be thrown into the mix, nor the ensuing inflationary environment, which has been brutal over the last couple of years.

“But we have navigated them impeccably, and got our business into the strongest position it has been in for many, many years.”

A turning point in the firm’s restructure was securing phase three of the Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor, with the £42.5 million scheme marking the largest job in the company’s history.

Andy says: “Since that project, we have delivered a number of others that give us the credentials to pursue and deliver bigger contracts.

“Targeting these contracts allows us to attract strong supportive supply chains and recruit and retain ‘Grade A’ talent.”

The post-COVID-19 years haven’t been kind to the construction industry, but Esh Group – which works across the North East, Teesside and Yorkshire and the Humber – remains debt free and reported pre-tax profits of £3.1 million last year, up from £2 million in 2022.

While turnover remained at £261 million, improvements in both its contracting and development performance resulted in a 50 per cent increase in pre-tax profits, and it now boasts the largest forward order book – more than £1.6 billion – in its history.

Andy says: “We understand how each part of our portfolio of businesses behaves over the long term.

“For example, we’ve got the private housing segment that follows the expected demand curve of that market, and we’ve got the public sector-oriented space that will, arguably, be counter cyclical to that.

“And then you’ve got the utilities business and the environment business that follow a consistent and reliable demand profile, no matter what the broader economy is doing.

“Understanding how those revenue streams behave was a key part of designing the business to be in those spaces – taking out the big peaks and troughs that single focus construction businesses can endure, and aligning to segments of the market where the client and contract environment shares risk and reward in a fair and sustainable way.”

The contractor’s focus, though, extends beyond the site.

As a socially responsible firm, it works hard to create impact within the communities surrounding its construction projects.

Andy says: “What is powerful for me is what we leave behind; the legacies that remain after a project is complete.

“When it comes to social housing, we’re not just building houses, which is an important part of regenerating a community, we’re also delivering social value.

“We employ apprentices, which can set them on a different path, providing jobs, work experience and life skills – our award-winning social value programmes really do have the power to change lives for the better.

“One of the biggest issues facing the industry is a skills shortage, and we’re driving the agenda there, working with North East further education colleges and the North East Institute of Technology.

“We’re all working at the coal-face to ensure we’ve got the right people coming through the industry to deliver what we need, and we’re actively looking to bring more people in through our established programmes.

“We’ve set the agenda for the skills we need.

“There’s a whole range of roles that are attractive in construction, and part of our job is to go into schools and colleges and show the vast array of opportunities in the industry, with some of them at the very leading edge of digital and technological advancements.”

He adds: “As a business, we’ve been on a journey of change over recent years, coming out the other side with determination, strength and a solid outlook.

“And we are perfectly positioned to take the Tyne Bridge on its own restoration journey.

“Like Esh Group, it will come out the other side stronger and ready to face the future.

“And the future for Esh Group promises to be very exciting.”