MEET THE TEAM
Connection Construction Ltd takes the stress and worry out of major building projects through open pricing, honesty and friendly communication.
Graham Guthrie
Site Foreman and Director of Connection Construction
Graham oversees construction and manages the team on site, his broad and high-level skill set is backed up by his 21 years of construction experience as well as his network of highly professional and skilled sub-contractors. Graham will be your onsite contact throughout your project, leading the team from the front and on the tools himself while overseeing any other trades required.
Graham's Experience
21 Years of Surpassing Expectations
Graham’s our site foreman and company director, he’s been in the building industry for 21 years, having completed a City & Guilds apprenticeship in Brickwork he went to work with and learn a lot from one of the largest brickwork companies in London working on little know projects like Wembley Stadium, Cambridge University and the Millennium dome – now the 02 Arena.
He stayed in London for 4 years as a bricklayer before going self-employed as a subcontractor on many major building projects and major house building projects with the likes of David Wilson Homes, Bellway’s and Countryside.
At 26 he subcontracted to a major contractor working on school extensions, major alterations and new build schools gaining valuable experience of the education sector.
Before going fully- self-employed Graham joined a general building contractor in Colchester doing brickwork on New Builds, Extensions, Hotel Conversions and Office Refits and general building work.
In 2011 Graham went full-time self-employed offering all kinds of domestic building projects, managing new builds, extensions, garage conversions and hard landscaping projects himself acting as Main Contractor and bringing in subcontractors where required.
Why Work With Connection Construction?
Communication:
Through our own development projects as Connection Investments and or own personal projects we understand the viewpoint of the customer and the importance of communication. We've lived through major building projects on our own homes, we've financed developments. We appreciate the need to be informed and feel you can talk to your builder at any time about anything.
Our support office will be available to you at all hours, we’ll check in with you at each stage of the build to ensure you’re happy with the work so far and if there are any corrections to be made.
We’ll also let you know what to expect next, who will be on site and when and how your project is progressing.
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There will always be someone you can talk to in Iain, who won’t bombard you with building jargon and who knows what it’s like to be the customer and can communicate your needs to Graham and the team.
Clear and Fixed Pricing:
Before we start work you'll have been provided with a written estimate breaking down each stage of the work and the costs involved. We will both sign a copy, you'll know exactly what to expect from us and what costs to expect. We will have agreed a fixed payment schedule, normally 30% to commit the team and initial materials followed pre agreed stage payments after each main phase up to completion.
We will act as main contractor and project manager, we will deliver the work agreed as a complete package. You don't need to worry about materials, finding skilled trades and subcontractors who can work alongside each other, we will liaise with building control on your behalf - you could potentially save money by organising the project entirely yourself although building is likely something you're only going to do once and you're going to want to get it right first time.
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Be wary of any quotes that seem to be to good to be true, it's commonplace in the building industry to quote a lower price to win a job and to then build the cost up out of sudden "unforeseen extras" knowing you'll then feel too awkward to go out and get other quotes.
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Our price is fixed - unless you change the specification or the foundation details change - there will be no extras, no surprises - we vehemently oppose under pricing work to win jobs only to cheat the customer out of more money further into the project.
That’s not how we run our business. If you want to add things or change things that have been completed as previously agreed then of course that's different but no work we have priced will suddenly become more expensive - the price is the price agreed upon signing. We'll both sign a copy of the quotation so you'll have our signature against the cost of the work to be carried out. We stand by our work and we stand by our price.
Approachable:
We understand it can be intimidating having builders on your property so we provide our support office to approach with any questions between stage check-ups: we want to take the stress out of a building project because we know how difficult major disruption can be.
Considerate:
Building work is messy and disruptive, having lived through major building work in our own homes we understand, sympathise and will do all we can to contain the mess and minimise disruption while keeping your site as clean and tidy as possible.
The quality of work Guarantee:
As your main contractor, we will take responsibility for each trade and sub-contractor involved, we will oversee the work and correct if required. Graham’s professional pride means you’ll see him on the tools more often than not and setting the pace and standard for the project. He’ll snag any problems left by other trades and anything slipping through the net can be reported to Iain in the support office and rectified immediately.