Business spotlight: McAvoy
Offsite manufacturing specialist McAvoy joined A Good Thing in November 2025 as a paying supporter and has so far donated plastic wrapping, metal cladding, wooden pallets, windows, doors and glass panels across sites in south Wales, Northern Ireland, Peterborough and Northumbria.
What is McAvoy?
McAvoy is an offsite manufacturing specialist with over 50 years’ experience. It creates sustainable and high-quality buildings across range of sectors, throughout the UK and Ireland.
How does A Good Thing fit with McAvoy’s mission and values?
McAvoy is actively working its way up the waste hierarchy. The company currently diverts 99% of waste from landfill across all its operations and is working towards eliminating waste completely.
Ryan Gillett, McAvoy Head of Safety, Health & Environment, believes that the A Good Thing platform aligns closely with McAvoy’s sustainability objectives, offering a practical, cost-effective way to maximise reuse while supporting the company’s ESG (environmental, social and governance) ambitions.
What other initiatives is McAvoy pursuing alongside A Good Thing, to make the world a better place?
Employing a full-time Head of Safety, Health and Environmental (that’s Ryan) is, in itself, a clear statement of intent. McAvoy has a strong focus on carbon emissions and is in its fifth year of carbon reporting for Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 waste. It is proud to have made steady reductions, and is aiming for a 50% reduction by 2030.
100% of the electricity at McAvoy’s head offices now comes from renewable sources, and the firm has embarked on its first ESG (environmental, social and governance) strategy report, to be published shortly. McAvoy is transitioning across its fleet to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO)/biodiesel, while also reviewing its waste management strategy, with various industrial symbiosis routes under consideration.
Currently, 99% of McAvoy’s waste across all of its sites is diverted from landfill. It donates surplus materials to homeless charities and men’s sheds, among other organisations.
The firm has also been recognised at the Considerate Constructors Scheme National Site Awards, receiving a Bronze award in both 2024 and 2025.
Ryan explained that the company’s business model genuinely lends itself to waste minimisation:
“Modular design allows buildings to be conceived from the outset with disassembly, relocation and multiple lifecycles in mind. Our buildings are fully reusable, with one particular building now on its eighth life span – having originally been used at the London 2012 Olympics.”
What is your industry doing more broadly to encourage reuse?
Sarah Bradley, Head of Marketing and Communications at McAvoy, told us:
“The rental model is highly focused on reuse. Buildings can be removed, reconfigured and relocated, allowing the same asset to be used repeatedly across different projects and sectors. There’s also strong momentum coming from public sector procurement. Clients and frameworks are placing far more emphasis on whole-life value, circular economy principles and carbon emissions, which is pushing the industry to innovate and collaborate.”
Ryan acknowledged that the construction industry hasn’t always had a strong sustainability reputation, but believes that’s rapidly changing:
“There’s a real drive for ESG reporting, and the manufacturing and construction industries are demonstrating a real focus in relation to sustainability. We’re seeing greater standardisation of components, improved tracking of materials and a growing emphasis on designing for adaptability. Sustainability is front and centre of all we do.”
Finally, how has McAvoy found the experience of using A Good Thing?
Ryan is very happy with how his matches have gone so far:
“The platform has been excellent, and we’ve really enjoyed collaborating with the team. Some of our materials can be tricky to match, but so far everything has successfully been reused! We’re very grateful for A Good Thing’s support.”
