u to learn more about Milton Keynes.
His firm carried out projects at Milton Keynes Hospital and built a number of local health centres. Various landscape depots across the town were constructed as the MKDC landscaping department expanded. In 1979, NPC installed the Octo sculpture in Central Milton Keynes, the iconic twisting ribbon of stainless steel created as a memorial to the city’s designer Lord Richard Llewelyn-Davies. The sculpture was grade II listed by Historic England in January last year.
“It became the symbol of Milton
Keynes for the development corporation’s marketing,” says Mike. “I remember going to London and seeing all the posters promoting Milton Keynes with the Octo sculpture. I feel very proud because it has been the enduring symbol of Milton Keynes.”Mike became NPC’s managing director in 1976, when the national construction companies were converging on the new city as it emerged from the ground. “They were all competing for the
labour,” Mike recalls. “It was desperately hard trying to get bricklayers and carpenters. You would negotiate rates with them on a Friday evening for a Monday morning start but they would not turn up because they had been offered more money in the pub over the weekend.
“It was not an easy time. We did
not have the pulling power because we were looking to secure labour for one-off projects whereas the big boys could offer more long-term work. It was so difficult to get labour that I decided to go a different route by employing my own.” At one point NPC had 40
employees. “That was more than some of the national construction companies at the time. Most building workers were sub-contractors and if you took them on as employees, you had all the employment rules that go with that, like redundancy, National Insurance. It was not a popular way to go but I felt it gave us stability.” Milton Keynes today is busy, buzzy and a far cry from the early days when the development corporation was eagerly marketing the area to draw in families and businesses, principally from London. “They would subsidise cheap
evening return tickets to London on the train for 25p,” says Mike. “They were trying to entice people to move from London but there was nothing much to do here at the time. They were keen to show how close Milton Keynes was to the capital. We used to go into town after work, have a meal or watch a show then catch the last train home.”
Those who do not know better still criticise Milton Keynes for its grid road system and roundabouts. Imagine, says Mike, what it was like in the early days. “The first school we built was at a time when there were no buildings, just the grid roads and no indication of where we were. We had to navigate ourselves around just using the V and H road signs. It was green fields, nothing to latch on to in order to find out where you were. We could not find the site where we were meant to be building. The architects got lost as well.”
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The Parkside Hotel at Woughton-on-the-Green, restored by NPC from dereliction. “It was a lovely building,” says Mike.
NPC rebranded in 2015 to Wilford & Dean, reflecting the two major influencers of its development for a total of 179 of its 207- year history. In its time, its staff worked as headstone masons and undertakers, doubling as professional mourners and pallbearers. They also worked on stately homes such as Woburn Abbey. Mike stepped down as managing director in October 2015, to be
replaced by Simon Haddy. “We have a proven track record in heritage works,” says Simon.
“We felt the need to freshen up and have a brand to travel into the future, clearly identifying our offering, and at the same time recognising our heritage.”
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