GS Contracts is a family owned and run business with over 25 years’ experience. Founded in 1992 by, Gary Smith, we have grown from humble beginnings to the team we are today through our relationships, built with professionals, trades and suppliers, to make us the trusted and valuable partner we are known to be.

We firmly believe our people are our most valuable commodity. Central to our success is the right blend of talent, motivation and leadership. That’s why we are proud to be part of the Investors in People accreditation programme, because investing in people is not only the right thing to do, it also makes us more productive and more profitable. The We Invest in People accreditation is recognised in 66 countries around the world, making it the global benchmark when it comes to people management.

Today we put the spotlight on Simon Dale: Simon is one of the joiners here at GS Contracts and has been with us for 6 years. He comes from a shop-fitting background, and now spends his days in our in-house joinery workshop.

Day to day, Simon’s work is listing and sorting materials, sending pieces off to be cut at the machine shop, then assembling units ready to be shipped out or readying all the elements needed for pieces to be assembled and fitted on site.

Sometimes there is the opportunity to work on a freestanding piece of furniture, which Simon enjoys. His favourite job in this category was the hugely impressive ‘birdcage’ – a bespoke circular seating unit for a client’s garden, which involved complex joinery and where accuracy was key.

The other job that Simon was particularly proud of was the angular pods made for Bird Street in London. These stand-alone kiosks were made to house pop-up retail stores in the world’s first ‘smart street’. They took their inspiration from origami shapes and had triangular doors that ‘unfolded’ to provide access. They could also be linked together to create one larger space.

Despite being the hardest job Simon has ever worked on in his time at GS Contracts, he feels an immense pride in their completion and the fact that it is down to Simon and his similarly talented colleagues to make designers’ visions a reality.

Simon’s only bugbear with the job? That work comes in so thick and fast that he’s only just waved off one engrossing project, before he’s on to the next, with little time to reflect. But we’ve asked him to take a moment the next time he feels particularly proud of his work to take a snap, which we’ll share here with you, so we can admire it together!

We’re immensely proud of Simon and all our people and look forward to profiling more of them over the coming months.