From zero income to £500,000 contract for Dundee businessman

ADundonian who started a business after his income fell to zero in the pandemic has now won a £500,000 contract.

When Covid-19 hit last year Andrew Gaffney found demand for his airport transfer business completely dried up.

Unable to claim government support, his steady income suddenly went to nothing almost overnight.

“I operated a taxi business for airport transfers but during Covid nobody was going anywhere near the airports,” he recalled.

“I had a couple of jobs in the first month taking oil rig workers to Aberdeen.

“But it became pretty clear over a couple of months that it wasn’t going to cut it. I had to do something.”

The solution was close at hand. Mr Gaffney’s son-inlaw Andy Pratt has more than 20 years’ experience in the civil engineering business.

They entered a 50:50 partnership and established APG Civils last summer.

“I run the business side and Andy runs things on site,” Mr Gaffney said.

“We started doing small jobs like driveways and patios and word of mouth spread through social media.

“A pandemic probably wasn’t the best time to start a business but we thought we’d keep it small.

“Lockdown meant there were lots of people wanting things done in their gardens so we were lucky in that respect.”

Keeping the business at a small scale only lasted a few months before a housebuilder came in with a major series of works.

“Through Andy’s contacts, we received work with Caledonian Developments who had a site at Fairmuir Road,” Mr Gaffney said. “Initially it was to do one or two patios, but we ended up doing most of the groundworks for the whole development.”

The pair now have three workers, with a fourth joining the business next week. A new £500,000 contract with Caledonian Developments will see APG Civils carry out all groundworks at a development in Longhaugh Road, Dundee.

The site was once part of Dundee horse race track and is the site of a volcanic plug. Around 6,000 tonnes of basalt rock will be salvaged for reuse.

A total of 14 new build homes will be constructed, each boasting air source heat pumps and electric car charging points.

For every tree removed from the site, more than four will be replanted.

Red squirrel boxes will also be installed to encourage them back to the area.

APG has undertaken site clearing and will be doing foundations for the homes, sewer work and establishing the road and pavements.

Mr Gaffney said he expected they would have to get to six or seven staff and hoped the company could then continue to expand.

“At the start we said keep it small, keep it tight and that we’d focus on private work,” he said.

“When you start talking to companies about £500,000 contracts it’s fair to say it’s exceeded our expectations.

“Because we are a small outfit I am helping with the labouring, which is hard work.

“But the good is when you drive past a week later, you can think ‘I did that’.

“There is satisfaction in seeing something you’ve built be there for a long time.”

SCALING UP: Andy Pratt and Andrew Gaffney started small but are now looking to take on some major projects.