John N Dunn Group is making waves in the construction industry while entering the renewable energy sector
Boasting a strong presence in the North East of England, Yorkshire and Scotland, John N Dunn Group (John N Dunn) is a well-established, owner managed, building services company specialising in plumbing, heating, electrical, and low carbon solutions. Thanks to its scale and capability to work on a wide range of projects, from large construction schemes to reactive maintenance, the group has built strong relationships with an impressive line-up of blue-chip customers, including major housing developers and Housing Associations, as well as a number of high profile commercial customers. Through its unwavering dedication to project management and customer service, John N Dunn’s track record now features over 7000 successfully delivered contracts, completed in over a century of hard work.
“We are a third-generation family business headquartered in Tyneside, with regional offices in Leeds and Edinburgh. As subcontractors in the construction industry, we predominantly undertake plumbing, heating, and electrical installs for national house builders, Housing Associations, and Councils,” begins Stephen Bilclough, Group Chairman. He goes on to shed light on how the group’s current operations came to be.
“Our history began with my late grandfather, George M Bilclough, who founded a plumbing and heating engineering business in North Shields in the 1920s (George M Bilclough Ltd). Back then, central heating was not yet common in homes, so he was able to quickly grow the business by providing this service alongside large scale heating projects up and down the country. By the 1940s, the business had reached a significant size, employing over 500 people with offices in Leeds, Newcastle, Middlesborough and Edinburgh. However, in 1972, the company was taken over by Matthew Hall & Co Ltd. My father and my uncle, John and Keith Bilclough, were keen to be in charge of their own destiny, prompting them to establish their own venture rather than stay on for the new owners. To do so, they used a company that my grandfather had acquired in the 1950s, John N Dunn (established in 1893), as the vehicle to kickstart what we do now.
“In 1973 we began trading as John N Dunn, and many people who worked for my grandfather’s previous business came across to work with my father and uncle. This all coincided, in the 1970’s with a housing boom, which led John N Dunn to open new offices in Edinburgh and Leeds. Since then, we have predominantly been trading in the residential housing market, working for numerous national, blue-chip house builders. My brother, Chris and I joined the business in the mid eighties, followed by cousins James and Jane and together we have been taking the business forward to the best of our ability. We currently employ 280 people and take pride in our long-term relationships and loyal workforce. We are particularly proud of our lifetime investment in young people and this is demonstrated by our apprenticeship programme. We recently achieved a significant milestone in our history by recruiting our 500th apprentice and this is something we are committed to continue in the future.”
Significant investments
For the time being, the business is in safe hands with Stephen at the helm, as he is currently focused on improving John N Dunn’s IT and infrastructure through a series of investments. “By upgrading the majority of our systems, our main aim is to leverage cloud technology and improve communication between our site teams and the office as well as with our clients. Additionally, we are investing in cybersecurity, which is at the forefront of our minds alongside software upgrades, a new website, and hardware and device upgrades. With the help of our technology partners, we have made this groupwide investment with the intention of streamlining our business processes and staying ahead of the curve. We are also trying to position ourselves to take full advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities as they become more advanced and widely available. Therefore, it is going to be quite a significant investment that needs to happen to make sure we do not get left behind,” he enlightens.
Stephen goes on to describe one of John N Dunn’s ongoing projects, which is particularly significant for the company. “At the moment, we are working on about 100 live contracts between Doncaster and the central belt of Scotland, effectively covering the top half of the UK. One of them is a renewable energy project we have recently started working on with the North East Business Innovation Centre (BIC) in Sunderland, a prominent business hub housing multiple enterprises and businesses. We were fortunate enough to secure the contract to install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, battery storage with hybrid inverters, and electric vehicle charging points which are powered by an on-site solar tracker.
“This project is particularly exciting for us as it aligns with our strategic aim to step and grow into the renewables sector in a more meaningful way while still
maintaining our traditional core business. I believe that this high-profile, prestigious contract truly highlights our capabilities. In tandem, we are of course focused on dozens of large housing schemes that are of paramount importance to us for the national housebuilders. These new build housing projects are the lifeblood of our business and we are upskilling and diversifying our workforce to meet the needs of our clients as they build more energy efficient homes.”
Loyal workforce
Delivering such a high number of projects simultaneously requires a skilled and dedicated workforce alongside a strong middle management team and an experienced back office support staff. Stephen shares insights into John N Dunn’s company culture and continuous efforts to attract and retain talent. “We are privileged to have a very loyal workforce, which allows us to trust them fully and grant them a considerable amount of autonomy. In fact, our employees are empowered to make their own decisions, their input is deeply valued, and we like to celebrate their achievements when possible. Furthermore, our company has an open-door policy, meaning that employees have open access to all managers and leaders, who make themselves available for support and guidance. Equally, we recognise the importance of providing our workforce with a healthy work-life balance.
“We like to assist our employees and want them to know that they can come to us with any problem they may have, as we will do our best to help them. Additionally, we provide a lot of opportunities for development within the business and always aim to promote from within whenever we can. Of course, it is nice to bring in some new employees with fresh ideas and an external perspective occasionally. Still, we generally like our employees to feel that there is a career path for them within John N Dunn. I believe that we excel at recognising potential and offering opportunities to our staff. Also, all employees have access to well-being support and to that end, we offer various programmes to help our staff in this regard. Last but not least, we strive to offer a fair remuneration package and job security to everyone within the company,” he ends.
By prioritising talent through opportunities, well-being initiatives and a caring culture, John N Dunn is investing in relationships that are set to power its next century of success in construction’s ever-evolving landscape.