Although Tony Iles is gradually relinquishing control as Managing Director of Tonic Construction – the company he created in 1999 – his legacy is ensured as he has not only placed a strong succession plan in place, but he has also been the driving force in changing UK construction industry’s switch from using old conventional open top dumpers to safety cabbed dumpers only on all UK building sites.
The construction industry had 14 dumper related fatalities in 2016 and five in 2021 so the numbers are proving that the introduction of cabbed dumpers in 2017 is saving lives. The industry is slowly moving over to using only cabbed dumpers, however, the main issue has been the lack of a national standard for safety cab design. This has been completed by Vinci Group after being commissioned by Tonic Construction back in 2018, so there is now a PAS (Publicly Available Standard) available to all manufacturers, so they are able to construct cabs that have certified OPS (Operator Protection Systems) within their build. In turn they will standardise the industry in dumper cab production and hence encourage the entire industry to adopt cab only dumpers on their developments.
Tony Iles promised the family of a young man whom died from a dumper accident on one of Tonic’s sites back in 2016 that his death would not be in vain and after six years of campaigning within the industry, the release of the PAS has proved he is a man of his word. He can now retire from the industry with the knowledge that he has helped contribute to making it a slightly safer place for operatives than when he joined the industry back in 1984.
“The story of the campaign to change the industry to cabbed only dumpers hopefully proves to the next generation that they can actually make a difference,” explains Mr Iles. “They just have to have the belief, the commitment and the determination to succeed.”
Tonic Construction became an EOT (Employee Ownership Trust) in 2019 as part of the Mr Iles’ succession plan and Jake Jenkins is increasingly taking the reins of the business. “The aim is to become fully retired, which I’m about 90 per cent there already,” says Mr Iles. “Day-to-day work is now run by Jake, the new Managing Director, who I’ve known for 30 years. He has the same ethos and philosophy as myself. I’m proud of the work I’ve achieved on dumper safety and the growth of the company generally. I’m confident that Jake will continue in the same vein.”
Whatever is in store for Tonic Construction in the months and years ahead, the company’s future looks assured and Tony Iles can reflect on a job very well done.