Jones Bros changes top team as firm begins new era22nd May 2015

Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has announced a promotion and a new appointment to its board as the firm begins a new era.

New managing director John Dielhof, former contracts director and a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and new finance director Rob James will oversee a raft of new growth initiatives.

Plans include an increased focus on apprenticeships and training, recruitment, investment in the plant fleet, securing new contracts and developing the support infrastructure of the business.

Owner and, former managing director, Huw Jones will assume the role of chairman at the £70m turnover firm, which has doubled its workforce in the past five years now employing 300 people.

Jones Bros has recently been appointed as the ECI (early contractor involvement) contractor for the £65m Caernarfon by-pass in a 50:50 joint venture with multinational Balfour Beatty with whom it has also been awarded a contract to build a multi million pound extension to the Clyde wind farm in Scotland, for SSE.

John Dielhof, 48, an experienced civil engineer, qualified in his native Australia before travelling to the UK to widen his work experience, working on what was then the biggest civil engineering job in Europe, the Conwy Tunnel, for Costain-Tarmac.

He went on to join D J Construction to project manage the construction of the first ever wind farm in Scotland, Hagshaw Hill, near Douglas in the early 1990s before joining Conwy Council as a principal engineer to oversee the design and construction of the Kinmel Bay Coastal Defences in 1998.

John, who joined Jones Bros in 2000 as contracts manager, said: “My vision is for the company to grow organically. We can achieve this by taking advantage of our growing reputation as a high quality contractor to win more work in our renewables, infrastructure and waste remediation and recycling sectors, and also using partnerships with other major national contractors to access the higher value infrastructure contracts.

“We’re going to continue to develop home-grown talent through our established apprenticeship and engineering training schemes, ensuring that we continue to offer opportunities to young people locally and support the North Wales economy.  I see 60-70 per cent of our future operatives and engineers coming through our in-house training.”

John helped to develop Jones Bros expertise in waste remediation and handling, which took the firm into southern England for the first time. He was also instrumental in developing the firm’s niche in the construction of wind farms.

“My aim is for the firm to continue its current growth trends with a realistic target being to employ 400-500 people and with a turnover of over £100-150m over the next five to ten years,” he added.

New finance director Rob James, 32, a chartered accountant, replaces Osian ab Ifan, who has retired.

Rob joined Jones Bros in 2013 following a career with top accountancy firm Deloitte, where he gained expertise in its restructuring team and worked on secondment within Barclays Corporate business support unit.

After joining Jones Bros he headed up a £0.5m project to implement new financial procurement and commercial systems and processes, co-inciding with the family firm’s moved to new premises, Glyn House.

Rob, a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said: “Jones Bros is in great health and it is a very exciting time to be taking on the role of finance director. I’m fortunate to be a member of a great team who share a long-term commitment to the business.”

Chairman Huw Jones said:  “With John in the position of managing director, the company will be able to take full advantage of his extensive engineering expertise and knowledge of contracting as it grows.  I’ll be a hands-on chairman and I’m looking forward to working closely with John and Rob to grow the company.”