2024: A year in review
And just like that 2024 is over. As we move into what is set to be another exciting year, we take a step back and reflect on the past 12 months. Putting questions to our CEO, David Harris, he looks back on the year’s proudest achievements, greatest challenges, and highlights what’s coming up next.
What were three highlights from the past year for Premier Modular?
Seeing unprecedented business growth in the rental sector has been a definite highlight this year. The rental education sector has been a key focus for our team, as we continue to provide the best-in-class temporary education facilities up and down the country. We’ve secured several significant projects, including our largest rental education project to da
We’ve also taken several significant steps towards achieving our sustainability goals. This year has seen the completion of solar panel installation on two of our factories, a key milestone in our journey to achieving net zero by 2035. We’ve also increased our offerings and now provide new and innovative carbon reduction opportunities to allow our customers to reduce their embodied and operational carbon.
Finally, it would be impossible not to mention the array of awards we’ve won this year. Some of the highlights include:
- Exceptional Preconstruction Service Award from Wates Group, our valued client and construction partner
- Silver in Sustainability at the National Building and Construction Awards
- Steve Cook’s Special Recognition Award for Supply Chain Supervision at the Morgan Sindall Supply Chain Awards in Manchester
- Fari Bajgiran’s Euston Winning Our Way Award for his expert management of rental modules for HS2
All these awards are testament to the Premier Modular team’s hard work and expertise across the board.
Were there any unexpected challenges this year and how did you address them?
Even with the most meticulous of planning, it’s impossible to foresee every challenge, and at Premier Modular, our expertise enables us to think on our feet.
The collapse of construction giant, ISG, earlier this year was very sad for the construction sector. It added much strain to the industry and caused a loss of confidence to ripple across the sector. For us, thankfully, this only manifested in a few rental projects. Still, I was proud to see the team rise to the challenge, working hard to reassess contracts where necessary and repurpose the buildings for alternative uses.
When the general election was pulled forward this summer, government spending was pushed into delay whilst department reassessment took place. This was a frustrating development, which meant a number of projects were put on hold for many months.
How has the industry evolved over the last year?
The construction industry is constantly evolving, and this year has been no exception.
By offering more flexibility to our clients wanting a mix of temporary and permanent building options, we’ve seen increased client interest in semi-permanent solutions. These are four-to-six-year-long rentals of high-quality space that provide our customers with more flexibility in funding, space utilisation and futureproofing.
There are ongoing evolutions that we’re keeping our eye on, too. The government is facing big decisions surrounding HS2, and the continued massive growth of data storage requirements is making data centre construction an enormous market. We’ve already proven how high-quality modular buildings can support these projects, across the UK and the Netherlands.
How has the team grown or evolved this last year?
We are truly invested in our people. So, with a focus on business development and technical expertise, we’ve continued to grow our team this year, bringing in new talent. We’ve focused heavily on leadership and management training skills for the wider management team and enjoyed seeing the success of our apprenticeship scheme, with 100% pass rate across our apprentices this year. We’ve also placed greater emphasis on EDI to improve our diversity in the workforce.
What’s next for Premier Modular in 2025?
We’re anticipating another stellar year, packed full of achievements as we continue leading the way in the construction industry. We can expect to see:
- Ongoing investment in our people as we implement our Family PACT values
- A mental health push across the business as we support men in construction
- Greater leadership focus to ensure all staff receive high quality leadership training
- Our continued drive for safety behavioural improvement supporting our stringent safety performance culture
- A follow-on focus on the communities we operate in, finding further ways to support and be involved in them
- And, of course, continued expansion in key sectors such as education, healthcare and defence and justice.
So, there you have it. It’s been another excellent year for the team at Premier Modular, packed full of achievements and challenges, and we can’t wait to continue taking modular construction to new heights next year.
To keep up with us in 2025, follow us on our social media.
