Debbie Edgar, Managing Director of Dragon Infrastructure Solutions, one of the UK’s leading independent connections providers (ICPs), has been shortlisted for the prestigious Women in Construction Awards. She has been selected for the Leader of the Year category, in recognition of leading DragonIS to some spectacular achievements in 2014.
Debbie set up DragonIS with her brother Simon Phipps, seeing a gap in the connections and construction industry. Since then she has made her business one of the most successful ICPs, turning the connection of gas and electricity on construction projects from a commodity service into an opportunity for construction companies to save or even make money.
Under her leadership DragonIS has expanded its capabilities, targeting the renewable sector with considerable success. As a result it is a major large scale solar grid connection company working in the UK today and will have connected 20% of the UK’s ground mounted solar by March 2015.
In 2014 alone DragonIS further expanded its services, becoming GIRS accredited for gas too, making it a dual fuel connection provider and one of only three companies in the UK which can handle both 132kV of electricity and 2bar pressure gas.
With the business growing at such a rapid rate, Debbie has spearheaded DragonIS’ expansion, increasing its workforce and facilities by over 60 percent in 2014. At the same time it recorded an impressive turnover of £16.2 million in 2014, up from £6.4 million the year before.
Under Debbie’s leadership DragonIS has innovated too. In 2014 Debbie and her team introduced the Dragoncam. This is a special underground monitoring system which checks the inside of cable ducts for ridges and damage. Ideal for use on construction projects, it saves developers and DNOs thousands of pounds by removing the risk of having to dig up damaged cable. The family run organisation has also been involved in major projects such as completing a record-breaking, 17 kilometres of underground tunnelling, using advanced directional drilling techniques and the largest rock drill in Europe.
Debbie Edgar, Managing Director of DragonIS comments: “It is a huge honour to be shortlisted for Leader of the Year at The Women in Construction Awards. It’s fantastic to be recognised as a leading force within the industry and if I can encourage top female talent to break down the barriers and join the construction world, then I have succeeded.”
The Women in Construction Awards, which is in its ninth year, provides a showcase for the brightest and the best female achievers in the housebuilding and wider construction industries. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on March 26 at Lancashire C.C.C.s Old Trafford cricket ground.
