Life begins at 40 as company shows family ties stay strong
For one Ayrshire firm, life really is beginning at 40.
And Clyde Coast Contracts is pledging to go from strength to strength after racking up the major company milestone.
Much may have changed from the early days of the business.
While CCC still specialises in general groundwork projects, the business has branched out in recent years to deliver its own housing developments alongside core services.
But throughout all changes down the decades, the one constant underpinning the firm’s success has been the passion and drive of the McLaughlin family.
It was back in 1979 that Owen McLaughlin Senior established the firm, working alongside brothers, Edward and Michael, as the trio used a tiny room boasting little more than a desk and chair to run their operation.
Since then, contracts worth up to £ 3.5 million have been successfully completed and a client list which includes the likes of Stewart Milne and Kier are on the books.
Among the top projects carried out include a multi- million pound groundworks package at Ayr Central Shopping Centre.
Large- scale supermarket schemes, schools and numerous housing developments have also been completed.
And the company’s latest housing development, Willie McKelvey Brae in Kilmarnock, is set in a modern courtyard and features ten houses – eight semi- detached and two detached homes.
The firm’s three directors – Owen McLaughlin jnr, who succeeded his father as Managing Director in 2005, Michael McLaughlin
( Contracts Director) and Anthony McLaughlin ( Commercial Director), oversee a business which employs around 80 people.
Owen said: “For people working for the company, the advantage is that instead of having to wade through multiple layers of bureaucracy, which is common in larger companies, here we are more flexible and more likely to provide a quick decision.
“If we weren’t good at what we do, we wouldn’t be successful,” he added.
“We started keeping records of jobs in 1992. We’re currently sitting at job number 540 – and that’s not including all the projects carried out before that time.
“The plans are to keep doing what we’ve always done.
“We will continue to invest in ideas that are commercially viable.
“The whole industry has changed.
“It’s health and safety- driven now.
“You grow with what you need to grow with. The industry dictates how you perform or how you update.
“In the early days, jobs came from word of mouth. You were known for what you were good at and the next job came naturally because of the first job you did.
“It was about who you knew.
“One firm would speak to another firm and say they guys from Ayrshire always do a good job.”