MEMBER VOICES
Bell says. “Fortunately, I had good people around me. I spoke to a few architects before I left my job and they said, ‘If you need anything we can price a wee job for you.’ “I went from doing projects like a £15,000 garage conversion to some of the projects we do now, which are more than £250,000 at a time.”
contracts. He recently bid on a £1 million contract, for example. With “three strings to my bow”, Attridge runs his umbrella business Ellenbrook Group, under which also sits a property development firm. “We’ll build a house and sell it, or convert an office to flats, that sort of thing.” It’s as a property developer that Attridge wants to focus more of his resources, building homes to sell rather than carrying out construction work for third parties. Tapping into support Bell launched his business but he relied on the people around him. Over the years, he built a supportive and responsive professional network. From the architects who offered assistance to the team he has working under him, he has always drawn from the expertise and energy of people in his network. “We’ve got good team members, so a lot of them deal with customers as well. They speak to clients every day – we make sure a team member speaks with the client daily. “If I’m not on the job for the day, somebody brings me information
Looking back at the past three and a half years, Bell revels in the interesting path he has travelled. “I started in Covid without a penny and now I have a team of six people. I walked away from the company and started alone. It has been about hard work and good relationships, making sure a few businesses around Dundee always come back to us for more work.” Maintaining the passion The decision has brought Bell nothing but benefits. “I love doing what I do,” he says. “I’m around people, I help clients get what they want instead of watching them get told what they will get. Seeing our customers’ faces when their projects are finished is a satisfying moment.” So what keeps Attridge motivated? Like Bell, he loves what he does. “I’m still passionate about the industry. I still enjoy my work. I’m 65 and I have no intentions to retire. In fact, I’ve just developed a new five-year plan.” (The planning was motivated by an FMB course Attridge attended, hosted by Construction Coach Robin Hayhurst.) “We all have days that are not so great, but I don’t think I’d do anything differently if I had my time again,” Attridge maintains. “I have my grandson in the business. After I’ve worked on him for five years, he might take on the company with a couple of the other lads.” Despite working on large, nationally significant infrastructure projects, being bold enough to tackle new challenges and loving his work, Attridge says his biggest achievement is sharing his knowledge with his young team “My grandson is 20 and the oldest in the team is probably 34. I get a buzz from imparting what I’ve learned over the years and see them pick it up, run with it, and do it better than I could do. It’s so pleasing.”
Quantity surveyors can also build
Mike Attridge’s journey to owning a construction company started in 1978, but only came to fruition nearly 40 years later. He began as a trainee quantity surveyor. Two decades later, he launched Ellenbrook Consulting. Still working as a quantity surveyor at 65, he looks back at an eventful career with big projects under his belt, including the Channel Tunnel, Rail Link, Crossrail and Heathrow Express. It wasn’t until 2017 that Attridge decided to build, launching Ellenbrook Construction Limited in Hertfordshire. “I did estimates for a friend of mine, for people having building work done,” Attridge recalls. “I was engaged for my quantity surveyor skills, not my building skills. I was so appalled at how these people were treated by their builders who showed a lack of professionalism. I thought, ‘Surely I can do this better and more professionally.’” Truth be told, Attridge also wanted to build something himself. “Being a quantity surveyor, it used to nag at me that we were treated like the ‘Aunt Sally’ of the industry – ‘leave them to the numbers and contracts, but they can’t build anything’. “There was a part of me that wanted to prove that quantity surveyors could become builders.” Attridge began doing small refurbishments and extensions, but now takes on new builds, constantly striving for bigger
about what the customers want, what we can deliver,
whether they’re happy with us. I handpicked the team and it makes life so much easier.” One of his team will soon become a partner at Marbel Construction, which will enable Bell to straddle both sides of the business: being on site with his crew to work closely with clients and also stepping away from the tools to grow the business. “My partner has been working for me for the last year. He can be on the tools constantly and one or two days every week, I’ll take up the tools and go over everything to make sure all the projects are done properly, and keep on top of jobs coming in the door and meeting new customers.”
Craig Bell
Mike Attridge
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Master Builder
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