A subcontractor about to walk off site
A purchase order hadn't been raised and a subcontractor threatened to leave. We escalated it inside the client's business and had it approved the same day.
Case study · Retainer · Panda Recycling
Running Panda Recycling's multi-site capital programme
Since mid-2025 we've acted as Panda Recycling's construction department across several operational sites: new buildings, power upgrades, groundworks, refurbishments and planning, delivered around a live operation.
Client: Panda Recycling
The challenge
Panda Recycling had a significant capital programme across several sites, including new process buildings, a refurbished office, power upgrades and yard works, but no in-house construction team to run it.
Designers, structural engineers, surveyors, utility providers and several contractors needed to work at once, on sites that couldn't stop operating, while the finance team needed to know exactly what was committed and when it would be paid.
What we did
We sit inside the client's business as their construction department. We commissioned the site investigations and surveys, briefed and coordinated the architectural, structural and M&E design, and managed planning conditions and the information needed for environmental permits.
We tendered the packages, reviewed contractor pricing and methodology, placed contracts and raised orders before work started. On site we run regular progress meetings, review RAMS before high-risk work and keep the Construction Phase Plan current.
Every month the finance team gets a payment schedule showing what's due, on which order, and why. Every decision is recorded, every application checked against the last certificate, and every package has its own payment register.
On the ground
Moments that made the difference
A missed payment run
We went straight to the finance manager with a list of what would stop on site and when. It was paid the same day.
An extra that wasn't needed
A contractor asked for a five-figure extra when the option they'd already priced did the job. We showed the evidence and held the price.
A final account with no surprises
On one site we agreed the final account to within pennies of our own forecast, because every payment was tracked from day one.
Services used
Your construction department, on retainer
Chartered construction managers working as your in-house team: briefing designers, getting prices, managing contractors and checking every invoice.
Find out more →Project management, inception to completion
One chartered team running your project from the first brief, through design, tender and construction, to handover and final account.
Find out more →Cost, contractor & payment control
Every application checked, every invoice matched to an order, and a monthly cost picture with no surprises at final account.
Find out more →CDM 2015 client and duty holder support
Help with your duties as a client under CDM 2015, including advice on Principal Designer and Principal Contractor appointments.
Find out more →Talk to us
Want this for your business?
Call 01274 010416 or email us. We'll come back quickly with how we'd help and what it would cost.