Beard Construction is marking the first anniversary of its Southampton office with the appointment of Ollie Chun as office lead.

The family-owned company promoted Ollie to head the 18-strong team on the south coast as it aims to continue its growth trajectory and double its turnover in 2025, following a successful year in 2024.

Ollie joined Beard in 2016 as a pre-construction manager based in the Guildford office. He played a key role in the establishment of the Southampton branch, initially dividing his time between both 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, praised Ollie’s leadership over the past year. "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.

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"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."

In 2024, Ollie successfully completed Beard’s internal leadership development programme, designed to equip colleagues with the skills needed to be successful leaders and enabling the firm to promote from within.

Approximately half of the Southampton team were existing Beard employees, redeployed to the area to share their expertise and instil the company's culture within the new office. An additional eight new recruits were brought on last year for office and site-based roles.

"We've 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 was previously led by director Pat Hughes, who left Beard at the end of 2024 after five years with the company. Pat had initially led the Guildford office before transitioning to Southampton.

A flagship project for the Southampton team has been the restoration of the historic Hilsea Lido for Portsmouth City Council. Set to open later this year in time for its 90th anniversary, Beard is modernising and restoring the Lido’s facilities, including the installation of new pipework, stabilisation of the pool structure, and the construction of new modular changing facilities.

In line with its commitment to fostering the next generation of construction talent, the Southampton office is also hosting placement student Mitch Burton, a Quantity Surveying student from Oxford Brookes University. Mitch has been offered a full-time role within the team upon completion of his studies.