Construction firm Beard is celebrating the first anniversary of its Southampton office with the appointment of a new office lead.
The family-owned company has promoted Ollie Chun to lead the 18-strong team on the south coast as the company looks to continue its growth and double its turnover in 2025 after achieving its targets last year.
Ollie joined Beard in 2016 as pre-construction manager, based in Beard’s Guildford office. He was instrumental in establishing the Southampton office, initially splitting his time between the two regions.
“After supporting our set-up in Southampton, taking this role was the natural next step for me,” said Ollie. “I’m excited to lead the Southampton team into its second year, with the support of Beard’s leadership team firmly beside me, as we continue to deliver quality work for our customers and develop our strong pipeline of work.”
Mike Hedges, company operations director at Beard, said: “Over the past year, as our Southampton team has grown, Ollie has consistently shown his dedication to delivering projects promptly and faultlessly. His commitment reflects the core values of Beard, and his skills in project management and operational efficiency have been invaluable.
“The Southampton team has had an incredibly successful first year, completing our first two projects and expanding our presence in the region. We look forward to supporting our customers, Ollie, and the team in achieving continued success.”
Ollie successfully completed Beard’s internal leadership development programme in 2024, designed to equip colleagues with the skills to be successful leaders and enabling the firm to promote from within.
Around half of the Southampton team were existing employees, redeployed to the area to share their expertise and establish the Beard culture within the new office. A further eight new colleagues were recruited last year across office and site-based roles.
“We’re got a great balance of highly experienced colleagues who are ambassadors for how we do things at Beard, and new recruits with wide-ranging construction and operational experience, as well as sound local knowledge,” Ollie added.
The Southampton office had previously been led by director Pat Hughes, who left the firm at the end of 2024 after five years with the business. He first led Beard’s Guildford office, before taking the helm in Southampton.
One of the office’s flagship projects has been the restoration of the historic Hilsea Lido for Portsmouth City Council. Due to open later this year in time for its 90th anniversary, Beard is modernising and restoring facilities at the Lido, including installing new pipework, stabilising the pool structure, and building new modular changing facilities.
The office is also hosting a placement student as part of the company’s commitment to supporting the next generation into the industry. Mitch Burton, who is studying Quantity Surveying student at Oxford Brookes University, has been offered a full-time role within the team upon completion of his studies.
The Southampton team is keen to expand its regional supply chain and is inviting businesses to express their interest in working with Beard via its website. Beard is proud to be in the first cohort recognised with the Fair Payment Code Bronze level, honouring fair payment practices with suppliers.
To find out more about Beard, visit www.beardconstruction.co.uk.
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