We’ve been putting our design and construction skills to the test as we prepare to make our debut in a brand new soapbox derby in Shrewsbury.
Thousands of visitors will be able to watch our team take part in the first ever Shrewsbury Wacky Races in The Quarry Park on May 26, thanks to our support.
We have sponsored the giant screen that will broadcast the action live as teams go head to head on the 300m route in their carefully crafted carts.
The Pave Aways machine, that was unveiled at the official scrutinising event on May 8, was designed by quantity surveyor Tony Clifft in the shape of a hard hat to echo our construction roots. It’s been made by one of our recently qualified apprentices Tom Cowdell with support from A R Manley & Son Ltd in Rodington and the Cambrian Foundry Newtown Ltd.
We don’t want to reveal too much before the big day but here’s a few images of the work in progress of the cart – all will be revealed on the day!
The driver will be site manager Nick Stevens and he’ll be given a helping hand at the top of the course by quantity surveyor Richard Hooper and site manager and finishing foreman Joe Price. Two more staff giving a welcome push midway through the race will be trainee accounts officer Rhianne Duggin and our receptionist Sabrina Davies.
The maintenance of the – hopefully winning – Pave Aways cart will be down to pit manager Shawn Humphreys, our construction quality manager in his day job.
We’ll be keeping with the construction theme as the team will be kitted out as everyone’s favourite animated construction guru, Bob the Builder! The team song is Tom Jones’ aptly named ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’.
Managing Director Steven Owen said: “We’re hoping that our building skills will have given us a head start and, while it’s all good fun, I’m pretty sure our team’s competitive spirit will kick in!
“Wacky Races promises to be a great day out and lots of colleagues will be there to cheer them on. We’d love to add this to our trophy cabinet of awards.”
The races will be run in a knockout style competition with only the fastest 10 cars making it through to the final to battle it out for first place.
