A customer might initially approach the company about finishing works, only for the conversation to develop into something more substantial: moving a doorway, opening up a property or carrying out structural alterations. Over time, those requests pointed towards an opportunity.

“The work itself guided us in that direction,” says Stefan Psaila, Operations Manager at Hi-Care Services. “Sometimes the work shows you where the opportunities are, and you either take them or you don’t.”

Hi-Care began life in 2019 as a cleaning company and has since developed into a much broader service provider. Today, its activities include cleaning, outsourcing, healthcare, turnkey and maintenance services, alongside construction. The company formally added a dedicated construction department in 2024.

The move was not entirely new territory for the company. Mr Psaila says Hi-Care had already spent several years carrying out turnkey and finishing work, bringing its teams into regular contact with property owners and their projects. Increasingly, however, directed the company to go a step further.

“We started noticing a big increase in requests from clients,” he explains. “People weren’t simply saying, ‘I want to upgrade the bathroom.’ They were saying, ‘I want a bigger one,’ so structural alterations were needed.

Hi-Care can now become involved at a much earlier stage, with its construction offering covering residential, commercial and industrial projects. Its services range from groundwork and structural works through to finishing, while the company also provides debris removal and post-construction cleaning.

“With the team we have, we can take care of the whole project,” Mr Psaila says. “It could start with something relatively small or involve demolishing an entire house or part of a house.” From there, the team can handle excavation and take a project through to shell stage before Hi-Care’s existing finishing capabilities come into play. Drainage, plumbing, electrical works, tiling, painting and other elements can then be coordinated as part of the same project. The company also works alongside architects and designers where required. “The idea is to provide a one-stop shop,” he says.

Getting to that point required investment, although Mr Psaila says the biggest investment was not in machinery or equipment – it was in people. He states: “You have to invest money, but most of all, you have to invest in highly skilled, experienced, and professional people.”

Mr Psaila himself comes from a construction background, having been around the industry from a young age. Even so, moving into larger construction projects meant assembling a team with the right technical knowledge, qualifications and licences. Finding those people remains one of the sector’s more persistent difficulties. “It’s hard to find people, and it’s even harder to keep them,” he says.

Hi-Care’s approach to retention is relatively simple. Mr Psaila puts considerable emphasis on respect between management and employees, including when disagreements arise. “We might not always agree on something with an employee, but at the end of the day we always find a way forward without being disrespectful.”

The same practical attitude runs through his approach to safety. Construction companies are working in an environment where requirements continue to evolve, making training and close attention to regulation part of everyday operations. Mr Psaila attends safety meetings himself, and remains involved in reporting, while safety officers supervise work on site.

Keeping a project safe is one challenge. Keeping it on schedule is another. As Mr Psaila explains, much of that comes down to preparation. Weather, permits, road closures, revised plans and unexpected discoveries during demolition can all interfere with a construction programme.

“The key factor is planning. Planning, planning and more planning, and then executing according to what you planned,” he says. “At Hi-Care, these challenges are seamlessly managed. Through meticulous planning, technical expertise, and a proactive approach, we ensure that every project remains under control and is delivered on schedule, even when unexpected hurdles arise.”

That might mean having indoor work ready when bad weather prevents the team from working outside, or arranging a road closure weeks ahead so that concrete or other materials can reach a site on the required day. Missing one stage can have consequences much later in the project. “You also always need a Plan B,” he adds.

The construction expansion builds on more than seven years of experience across Hi-Care’s wider operations. That history is important to the way Mr Psaila wants the construction division to develop. Hi-Care is entering a crowded sector, but he is not interested in competing simply by doing more jobs. “We want to be part of the sector, but we want to do it in our own way. We want to be different.”

Sometimes that difference comes down to something as basic as how a construction team behaves towards the people living next door to a construction site. Mr Psaila acknowledges the disruption a building site can cause and says maintaining good relationships with neighbours forms part of how his team approaches a project. “You have to understand that having a construction site next door to you is disruptive, so you need to respect the people around you and try to keep them happy.”

It is a simple point, but one that says something about Hi-Care’s ambitions for its newest area of business. The company has grown from cleaning into a collection of services that now stretches from healthcare to property maintenance and construction.

For Mr Psaila, the next stage is about building the construction side with the same emphasis on reputation that the company has championed throughout its years of operations. “We believe in building our reputation through quality,” he says.