Virtus at 25: Navigating Challenges, Building Loyalty, and Shaping the Future of Construction

Mark: I come from a military forces background. I applied to join the RAF back in the 80’s and I was accepted, but there was a swathe of cuts, so I thought ‘I don’t know what to do now?’ so I went to my careers office at school and after answering a series of questions , the career that was identified as the most suitable was quantity surveying. I had a really mature moment in my life at 17, and I decided to pursue it.
I pursued becoming a quantity surveyor through college and university and became a Chartered Quantity Surveyor in 1991. No family were in the industry previously, so I was on my own.

Alex: When I came out of university, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do – seems like a common theme! A lot of people I knew were applying for grad schemes across several industries. I applied for a few and then decided I was going to go travelling, so put them all on hold. While I was away, I was contacted by one of the ones I applied to which was KPMG, an accountancy audit firm. After I got back, I ended up going for an interview and got offered a job to start in two weeks. So, I started there, and I got my accountancy qualification which took three years. After a while, I was sort of done with the accountancy Big Four life and was going to do some travelling again. Then, I got approached and asked if I wanted to join Virtus and look after their finances. So, I thought, why not? I’ll try something different.

It came from a discussion with a colleague at the time, Tom Martin who was also the Co-founder of the business back in 2000. We’d worked together for several years and hatched a plan, where we would like to do something ourselves, so that’s what we did!
It undoubtedly helped working for a forward-thinking firm at the time together. They gave us the tools that enabled us to think ‘Yes, we could do this.’ I’m a great believer in ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’, and I didn’t want the thought of retiring later in life and sitting in my ‘rocking chair’ and wondering if I could have made it in this industry.’
My short-term view at that time was ‘Okay, if it fails I will have put at risk , my reputation and lose some money, but the greater concerns was looking back in the future and having any regrets that I didn’t give it a go’.
I think you’ve always got to look forward, not back. What’s been, has been and you can only shape the future. Fate delivers accordingly, it’s just when it might deliver.

Mark: I don’t think the industry per say has changed a great deal. We’re all reliant on good communication, working together as a team and acquiring information for us to be able to deliver projects. The most significant change in my opinion has been the technological advancements. When I started in the industry, mobile phones weren’t common, and later I had one of the very first laptops which weighed 9 kilos! I don’t think it has changed what we do and how we do it, particularly, just the response times everyone expects of each other.

Alex: I would say the biggest change in terms of what we’re doing, is the way in which people view what they want from an office, which has changed due to COVID. It has meant that landlords have had to evolve in order to keep their spaces readily available and sellable. Pre COVID, it was much more of a seller’s market where the landlords had the power and, post COVID, I feel like it’s a much more of a buyer’s market. It’s the tenants, and one step further, the employees who are now dictating the space. I think that’s probably the biggest change we’ve seen in terms of what’s being asked for and who’s asking for it.

Mark: I’d say the biggest challenges were initially establishing a client base. Fortunately, we were able to bring some clients with us, but for the client’s you’ve never worked with before, you must prove that you are capable of doing the job. They need to have trust in you that you can deliver.

Subsequent challenges have been recessions. When the markets depressed  you’re all scratching around fishing from a much smaller pool of work – it’s much more aggressive environment.

Obviously, COVID was probably the biggest challenge so far, because no one had ever experienced it before. But again, that goes back to having a good client base and repeat business for us and was our saving grace. We have clients who want to use us and were confident that we would deliver their projects and they in turn  stood by our side during COVID and, without them, finding new business during the pandemic would have been incredibly difficult.

Alex: The biggest challenge we face as a business is the silly competitors who are only looking at short term vanity around revenue and have this obsession with driving prices down. They are not pricing things properly in order to win work and then almost trick their clients into it. It’s not the way we want to go, but it always does present a challenge to us. As a company we strive to be transparent and sensible and that’s why we have repeat business where clients know what they’re getting from us.

Mark: There’s a lot of businesses I’ve seen come and go in the past  25 years so it is a  remarkable achievement. I don’t think we’ve ever lost money in a single year of our 25 years of running the business, which I’m incredibly proud of. It’s not that it hasn’t had its ups and downs over the years but by keeping a firm hand on the  tiller has kept us on the straight and narrow!

I do think the most rewarding aspect has been the people you meet and employ along the way. Take Alex Dhoffer who recently retired after nearly 25 years service to the business.

We have been lucky along the way to have incredible  staff retention. We obviously provide something that people enjoy in an industry that typically has a move rate of every three to four years normally. Generally, it’s being able to enjoy what we do, and I think that’s the thing that I get from it: I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my 25 years. I’m not saying there haven’t been challenges and there’s been some sleepless nights, but hey, life’s like that. You’ve got to have those  occasions to realise how lucky you are in life sometimes.

Alex: The most thing that I’m most proud of is the number of staff that have settled in, stayed a long time and seem to enjoy coming in. We have built a really strong, happy foundation. We’ve seen people leave, realise that the grass isn’t greener and come back, which I think is always a good sign that you’re doing something right. From a financial perspective, the improvement we’ve seen in the success of the company over the last 5-6 years, we’ve really turned the corner. I’m proud of how we’ve sort of driven that business on to succeed.

Alex: One of our subcontractors, who have been going for 20 years have worked with us since they have started. We’ve built those long-term relationships where everyone is on the same page. We’re fair and reasonable and we must be because they keep coming back to work with us again.
At the end of the day, we are only as good as our subcontractors – they’re the ones who do the actual building and finishing touches, which is what the client is looking for. If that’s no good, then we wouldn’t have succeeded. They have helped us enormously to be where we are.

Mark: I agree entirely. I even think our clients have got used to who some of our subcontractors are and, again, it goes back to effective communication and knowing who they are and what makes them tick and obviously paying them on time to get their invaluable commitment.

Mark: Well, what I hope for the next 25 years of Virtus, is that it is still here for many years to come. That would be the legacy that I would like to leave. When I hang up my tape measure, I would like to be able to walk down the streets of London and still see that Virtus hoarding and  take comfort  that business is still thriving.

How will we need to innovate? I think you’re always adapting in this industry, but that’s what I think keeps you on your toes. There is so much variety, that no two days are ever the same and I think that’s what we need to just adapt to, to survive. I think the biggest change we’ll see is this continuation of the environmental impact we make in a resource heavy industry and the challenges we will face to make a difference . In order to make this a success for future generations we will need to see clients and the supply chain  buying into  it and investing in its success.

Alex: I hope I still have my hair in 25 years!
I think the introduction of Poppy and the innovation that we’ve put in over the last 6 – 12 months and that we’re continuing to develop now around ESG is great for the business. We can be at the forefront of that for companies in our tier and that should help us grow and innovate.

I also think what we’re looking at with Max and Liberty, our design team, around our design and build model and architect collaboration is also going to be important. We are seeing this extra emphasis from clients who want one person to look after everything and deal with it.
In all, over the next 25 years, I see us continuing to grow – built on a strong foundation of our staff and essentially growing those staff over time. More of the same, more of the same over the next 25 years!

Alex: I’d say the short-term challenges are all around the new regulations and legislations, which is a challenge across the whole industry. We are already seeing the implications of the longer PCSA agreements and design time. I also think the climate, carbon, the use of materials, the reuse of materials, will be a medium to long term challenge not just for us, but for the world.

Mark: I think it’s just being able to adapt. It’s an ever-changing market and you can’t just stand still. You have to keep moving forward and not expect it just to stay the same, it’s an evolving workplace and you’ll become a dinosaur very quickly.

I would say we are open so everyone’s approachable, and that includes me. The hierarchy has always been a relatively flat structure with everyone’s respectful of each other’s role within the business making it a good place to work. I think that comes through people feeling that they have been listened to, and that they get the rewards for their hard efforts.

Mark: We are going  to  put on our swimming trunks and go to Portugal for a long weekend! Something we have never done before, but feel is a well deserved way  of celebrating such a landmark achievement.

Alex: We’ve got some ideas for events to celebrate with our clients and with our staff, but more to be revealed…

Alex: I would say if you’re going to commit, you’ve got to commit 100% to doing it and you’ve got to accept that that’s going to entail hard work and sacrifice. It’s about not trying to run before you can walk. You have to identify what it is you’re good at and where you currently sit and then building rather than trying to believe you can do everything straight off the bat.

Mark: I agree totally. Hard work doesn’t hurt anyone and if you put the effort in and invest the right amount of time and effort, the rewards will come. There will be good times and hard times, and you have to understand that you are in it for the long game. You also have to believe in yourself as an individual, because sometimes that’s the only person that does believe in you.
I think for the business, it’s important you stick to your core business. Do what you know, don’t diversify too much otherwise you will dilute the message the company wants to deliver and stretch yourself personally without seeing the rewards.. Lastly, I would say: listen. I think far too many people in our industry are too quick to jump in and have their say. Whereas you need to listen to what the client wants, what their needs are and deliver accordingly . If you can do that, I think you can go a long way.

Mark: Maybe to have started when I was younger. I started the business when I was 36, but knowing what I know now, I wish I had started that little bit earlier, but maybe I wasn’t ready at that time to do it. Like I said earlier, I believe in fate and perhaps 36 was meant to be the year.

So, what else would I say? Perhaps not to work as hard as I have. I have worked incredibly hard over the years, and I think other things have suffered as a consequence. It’s just getting that work-life balance correct sometimes which I could not have achieved without the love and support of my family and colleagues.

Alex: I’ll probably give myself some advice on some lottery numbers!
But I think out of university I was very stressed about knowing exactly what it was I wanted to do. I think it’s not about knowing where you want to be with 18 or 25 or 30 or 35 probably, but it’s about doing what’s right at that time and then developing that. School and university taught us that there may be certain careers we had to do in order to be successful, but that’s not the case. No matter what it is you choose to do, you can be very successful.

Mark: For Virtus to continue to be successful and to be a place that people continue to enjoy working here. I think if you enjoy what you do, the rewards come naturally and that’s how I have always feel about it. Very seldomly do I ever get up in the morning and don’t want to go to work and I think that’s a really good measure of happiness and success!