This year South Wales Sports Grounds celebrates its 60th anniversary and during the course of its history the third generation family-owned business has continually adapted and improved its offering to meet the evolving needs of the marketplace.
“The company was started in 1964 by my grandfather in Monmouthshire as a two-man band providing a fairly basic level of services dedicated to the creation and maintenance of sports pitches,” explains Sean McDermott, Managing Director. “As the sector grew, my grandfather developed the business with it.
“My father then took the company on during the 1980s, in the process taking it up a level and increasing the workforce from six people to over 30. Following his retirement in 2019, I took over the reins. Despite the impact of the Covid pandemic, which proved to be something of a baptism of fire for me personally, we have enjoyed significant growth ever since, to the extent that we now have over 70 directly employed staff.
“The brakes on development were definitely applied during lockdown but have now been fully released, so we’re seeing a strong pipeline of work coming through. This has helped us to double our turnover in the past five years to nearly £16m.”
By keeping the business very much in the family, South Wales Sports Grounds has remained true to the values instilled in the company for six decades. Its forward-thinking approach allows it to tackle a wide range of sports facilities, such as cricket, hockey, rugby and football pitches, as well as running tracks, tennis courts and, increasingly due to the growing popularity of the sport, padel courts. These various facilities encompass a multitude of surfaces, both natural and artificial.
Continually expanding its offering has not only enabled SWSG to achieve ongoing commercial success but has also seen it attract award recognition. For instance, it was recently shortlisted within the SME of the Year category at the Construction Excellence Wales 2024 Awards, although it ultimately just missed out in the end.
“To be shortlisted was an achievement in itself and really demonstrates how far we’ve come and the reputation we’ve established,” adds Rob Jones, Director. “It is testament to the family ethos we have within the company and the growth we’ve enjoyed over the past 60 years. Sean’s grandfather still lives in the house at the front of our base here and his values have been crucial to our success.”
As its name suggests, SWSG predominately serves Wales, as it makes more sense for its directly employed workforce to work close to home, although it is prepared to venture further afield when the right opportunity arises. In terms of its customer base, this ranges from the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) through to individual clubs, as well as private clients that want a tennis court in their garden at home.
Further underlining just how far it has come, SWSG recently completed its largest project yet, a 16-acre facility at Llanrumney Sports Complex. This eight-month development proved to be a real tour de force, showcasing the complete range of services the company can offer the market. It entailed the creation of five synthetic pitches, one of which being an indoor pitch for Cardiff City Football Club, as well as five grass pitches.
“The Llanrumney project really sums up what we can deliver and the comprehensive nature of our offering, particularly as we can also provide a full maintenance package,” says Sean. “This allows us to operate as a one-stop-shop for clients, holding their hand during the entire process, from the initial design stage through to construction and the ongoing maintenance requirements. As well as maintaining the pitches throughout their lifespan thanks to our specialist maintenance division, we can also look after their end of life too, making sure the process is conducted in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.”
SWSG’s ability to deliver a high-quality service stems from its well-trained directly employed workforce and its comprehensive fleet of plant and equipment, which includes dozers and excavators, as well as wagons to transport them around the country.
“Our workforce is our biggest asset and we’ve got tremendous experience and expertise within the company,” outlines Rob “Our team has in-depth expertise of how to build pitches from the ground up. They are a massive part of why clients believe in us.
“We receive a high proportion of repeat work because of the level of trust we have built up. It’s all about doing the right thing and sticking to our principles. This is reinforced by the accreditations we hold, such as ISO9001, ISO14001 and Constructionline Gold.
“Thanks to our high standards, last year we were invited to become an official partner of the FAW. This really reflects the work we’ve produced over the years and is something that we’re very proud of.”
This recognition of the importance of its workforce is mirrored in SWCG’s commitment to training and staff development, particularly its emphasis on helping employees achieve their necessary NVQs. It is also doing its bit to bring new blood into the industry and it is currently in discussions with local colleges to develop an apprenticeship scheme that it is hoping to begin in September. “As an industry we can all sit back and bemoan the fact that there’s a shortage of labour and skills at the moment, so we’re keen to play our part in addressing the issue,” highlights Sean. “There are challenges involved but the rewards are there, particularly as we strive to deliver as many services in-house as we can. We sub-contract very little, just tarmacadam laying and floodlighting, so we’re able to maintain much greater control over the quality and efficiency we can deliver. This is why it’s so important to ensure our people are given the opportunity to develop their skills with us to the fullest.
“As part of this process, every member of staff has an annual appraisal where they can speak about how they feel about the company, where they want to progress, and identify any issues that require addressing. The feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We obviously want our employees to be safe physically, which is why we place such an emphasis on safety training and our systems, but to also be mentally healthy too. This is why we’ve introduced our Wellbeing app, which enables staff to access instant help and advice on mental health, physical health and financial matters. It’s a challenging world at the moment, so we want to be able to help in any way we can.
“We’re keen advocates of diversity too and we’ve got a rough 50-50 split between males and females in the office. We’re hoping to achieve a similar balance on our sites too, but this is a challenge for the entire construction industry generally, which is why we’re working with colleges. It’s too big a problem for us to be able to solve by ourselves.
“As well as our commitment to training, we regularly plough significant sums back into our fleet of plant and machinery, which means the majority of our equipment is company-owned. We also invest considerably in our technology too. This year we added the FieldView system, allowing us to remotely access data from our main office. This has further increased our ability to ensure quality throughout all our installations. Typically, we have between 15 and 18 sites running at any one time, which takes some managing, so ensuring that they’ve all got the latest and most correct versions of design drawings is a great help. It’s all about being more efficient in how we operate.”
In addition to its internal drive to improve its performance for the benefit of its clients, SWSG is also doing its bit to adhere to external legislation, particularly from a sustainable perspective. It is therefore working hard on improving recycling rates, particularly as more of the older artificial pitches reach the end of their lifespans.
“We wouldn’t have been able to chalk up 60 years of operation without developing a high degree of trust with our clientele,” says Rob. “Key to this is ensuring that they’re happy at the end of every job. We collate customer satisfaction levels and we’re currently averaging 92% from our clients, with our target being to increase this to 95%. We don’t get everything right, no one does, but when we do fall short we get in front of the client to understand why. Thankfully, that happens rarely, but we are looking to raise that percentage.
“A company stands and falls on its reputation and it’s taken 60 years to build ours, yet we could destroy it within six months if we let our standards slip. That’s why we’re so strong on ensuring consistency and making sure we don’t let anybody down. To enable this, capital investment and future planning is paramount. By purchasing the right equipment, the correct systems and by developing our people, we’re much better placed to meet client expectations. It’s not just the short term we’re looking at either, as we’ve got an eye on the next three to four years.
“The economy has shown some uncertainty with the high interest rates and lack of government spending, but this is not unusual and is not anything we haven’t seen before. Sustainable growth is still achievable long term, particularly as emerging markets like padel continue to present opportunities. It is a booming market.
“We’re a people-led business and this is shown in our relationships with our employees, our clients and our suppliers. We’re holding an event in December to say thanks to everyone’s efforts as part of our anniversary celebrations. It also coincides with Sean’s grandfather’s 90th birthday as well, so it will be particularly poignant.”
Although the 60th anniversary will give SWSG the perfect opportunity to reflect on just how far it’s come as a business and to bask in all it has achieved, it’s clear that the company continues to be in safe hands as it begins to write the next chapter in its already illustrious history.