The Founder Story Behind Groundworks Specialist MJL Group

We buy kit our operators want to drive  

When Matt Lugg decided to get into groundworks by founding MJL Group and moving away from his family's plant rental business, it was a big leap of faith.

Little did he know that 25 years later, he would have built a business with around 500 employees and a lot of equipment.

His excavator fleet alone is close to 200 excavators, with half of the fleet fitted with Leica Geosystems 3D machine control and a sizable number that utilise Engcon tiltrotators.

To find out more about the business and his approach, I caught up with him at the Royal Cornwall Show.

Matt: "Working from the ground upwards is really important when you want to grow a contracting business, as you understand the challenges your colleagues have to overcome.

"Over the last 25 years, we have gone from working on small projects to large scale developments for a whole range of National housebuilders.

Over the last five to six years, we have experienced significant growth and witnessed the most substantial change in our industry, transitioning from traditional methods to a digital approach on a larger scale.

"This has also come at a time when not just operators but skilled staff in general are harder to come by.

"We are trying hard to attract more people, including youngsters, through apprenticeships in the sector. And we also recognise the importance of retaining good people. We have operators that still want to work with us that are in their 70s.

"This is why we have a massively varied fleet mix from different OEMs as we buy equipment our operators want to drive. There isn't a bad machine out there anymore, and the pricing is very similar.

"Of course, we also look at the backup we are getting from the dealers, and again, this is what helps us to make our purchasing decisions.  

But there is still a very personal preference for operators, and keeping them happy also matters when we roll out new technology.

For example, we use Leica Geosystems 3D Machine Control and surveying equipment across the board. Lots of operators and engineers in our area are familiar with the hardware and software, and we receive good backup from its dealer, One Point Survey Equipment.

"Getting the right machine for the operator and adding the other toys like tiltrotators and specialist attachments is ultimately about making the machine more efficient.

"But I also think it's about moving and adapting with the times and things are now changing so rapidly you have to keep evolving.

"A great example of how this approach has worked for us is when we were able to start sending updated 3D site models through the GPS network using Leica ConX.

"That was transformational as our engineers didn't have to travel to the site each time there was a change, which in the holiday season could take hours. And now, when we are on a sites today with over 750 houses, working for multiple clients, we will be updating plans daily.  

Similarly, our operators now take readings with their buckets, checking the work they have done and loading it up to the cloud.

"This allows us to run our sites more efficiently whilst also meeting the demands of our clients who want information to be accessible to multiple individuals.

"We are also going paperless within our business, using digital tools to manage our fleet and everyday operations better. Our goal is to self deliver on our projects, so investment in the right equipment, support and partnerships will continue to be important.

And through our expanding apprenticeship scheme, we are looking to home grow the talented people we need to continue expanding the business.

It's certainly an exciting time in our industry, and the pace of change just keeps accelerating. So we will continue to dig in and evolve the business