In 1998, South African's Duncan and Beth McGregor and Rod Ward Able purchased a Mini Soil Surveys Franchise from Peter Dunn who was then M.D. of Mini Soil Surveys Limited, a site investigation company. The three worked hard to build up what had become a poorly serviced franchise in South East England. A 5 year franchise was initially agreed but soon they decided to form their own geotechnical company which they called Aardvark Site Investigations Ltd.
Over the next couple of years the company flourished, and in September 1999 Duncan visited Australia and investigated the helical pile foundation system, a method of piling invented in England, but had become obsolete. The technique was being used extensively for compression piling in Australia and tension anchoring in the USA. Duncan decided that screw piling could be re-introduced to the UK with success, particularly suitable for tall structures which site investigations were being carried out. This synergy was useful for both companies, benefitting from the combined geotechnical knowledge of Peter Dunn and Duncan McGregor
ScrewFast Foundations Limited was incorporated on 5th January 2000 with Peter Dunn, Duncan and Beth McGregor, and Rod Ward Able as shareholders. Initially providing screw pile foundations for minor telecommunications and small domestic projects, the ambition for the company was much larger. In 2003 Rod instigated a huge break-through into the Rail Industry, and a public installation in 2004 demonstrated the massive time advantages which were created using the screw piling foundation method.
The market grew rapidly, and very soon the highways industry also began to take notice of helical piles. ScrewFast could save up to three weeks per location for gantries which removed the structure installations from the critical path.
As the company has grown we have patented innovations using their knowledge gained through years of intensive research, testing and of course real on site experience. The original screw pile concept has evolved into the tension-compression pile which has multiple uses in resisting uplift and cyclical loadings. This has proved most effective on Rail for trackside structures, Highways for large signage and for masts for communication towers and conventional building structures.
In 2008 we began to diversify further in renewable energy, supplying foundations and structures for a number of Solar projects around Europe under the brand name of SolarFast. Supporting this were a number of wind turbine projects for which helical piles were the most environmentally sustainable foundation solution.
In just 10 years ScrewFast has expanded to employ over 30 members of staff including a very experienced design department, and have an annual turnover in excess of £12m. ScrewFast Foundations continue to be the first company industries consider when planning projects which use screw piling or steel foundations, due to the quality and reliablility of our solutions.
