Based at Avenue HQ, Project Four has recruited Richard Ellis and Andy Black as safety advisers and has also taken on Connor Mcilroy, an 18-year-old from Wirral. Tony McDonough reports

Fast-growing health & safety and CDM consultancy Project Four has added to its team of industry experts with two new appointments.

The firm, which is based at Avenue HQ on Liverpool’s waterfront, has recruited Richard Ellis and Andy Black as safety advisers and has also taken on Connor Mcilroy, an 18-year-old from Wirral, as its new apprentice.

Launched in October 2016, Project Four provides Construction, Design and Management (CDM) advisory services to the construction and industrial sectors and is currently working on developments across the UK worth more than £500m.

To handle the growing pipeline of new work, directors Alan Robson and Max Meadows felt it was crucial to add to the team and say Richard and Andy are exactly who they were looking for.

Major projects

Richard Ellis joins from international architecture and building consultancy AHR, where he spent 18 years gaining a broad understanding of building practices within the construction industry and the CDM regulations.

He has taken on the role of CDM consultant on a wide variety of projects ranging from small to multi-million pound schemes. These include public and private sector schemes involving schools, academies, colleges and universities, hospitals, retail parks, transport hubs, industrial, residential, and hotels.

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Richard will also be taking a leading role with retained architectural clients, which is a new approach to supporting the CDM stakeholders through retained contracts – which is reducing the project by project fee / eliminating the higher fees.

Andy Black has recently completed a six-month contract providing health and safety support for automotive giant Jaguar Land Rover at its huge new factory in Nitra in Slovakia, a £1.2bn project that will create thousands of jobs.

After graduating from Reading University, Andy began his career as an environmental manager in the petrochemical sector and later retrained in health and safety construction, working previously with Alan and Max on a number of North West projects.

Best people

On the new appointments, Max said: “The highly specialised, and often complex, nature of our work means we need to have the best people in our operation and so we are really pleased that Richard and Andy are joining us at Project Four.

“Our pipeline of work is growing all the time and in the coming months we are going to be playing a key role in some of the most high-profile construction projects in the North West.

“Alan and I know Andy well, having worked with him on earlier projects, and we know what he is capable of and what he will bring to our team. Richard has a fantastic pedigree in the CDM field and we are confident he will hit the ground running.”

Alan added: “We have been in business for less than two years and our growth has been phenomenal. Richard and Andy are great additions and we also think our new apprentice, Connor, will prove to be a real asset. He is really positive and mad keen to get started.”

Project Four is in the process of bringing more people into the business, putting a real focus on recruitment and retention, with both Alan and Max determined to hire “the best there is available”.

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