Cornwall Civils & Construction is run by Matt Richards, a mason by trade who worked up to site manager across groundworks and demolition before founding the company. He has 23 years in construction behind him.
Matt Richards is a mason by trade. He started in construction at 17 and has 23 years behind him, working up through the trade to working foreman and then site manager, running groundworks and demolition sites for other contractors. Much of the last decade went on new build housing sites, managing the work from foundations and structural elements through to completed homes.
Foreman and site manager are the jobs where you stop being responsible for your own work and start being responsible for the programme, the sequence and everyone on it.
That route is why the business works the way it does. Demolition, groundworks and full construction are usually three separate firms on three separate programmes, and Matt has done his time in all of them, traditional masonry and timber frame included. It is the reason Cornwall Civils & Construction can take a site from the first strip out to the finished build under one contract.
The company he was working for went through a financial collapse and the whole staff lost their jobs overnight. Matt went self employed and then founded Cornwall Civils & Construction Ltd, which is now going into its third year. He had already built a name in Cornwall working for other companies, and he had made a promise to his grandfather that he would run his own business one day.
It is the commitment he sets out at the start of every job.
I have done my time in demolition, groundworks and full construction, so I can take a project from the start of the strip out to the last of the build and keep it running on time and on budget.”Matt Richards, director
Mason by trade, working foreman, site manager, directorThe full credential path, in that order, served across groundworks, demolition and construction rather than in one discipline.
SMSTS site management safety trainingThe recognised site-manager safety qualification, held alongside the trade route rather than instead of it. It is the difference between someone who can build the thing and someone who can also run the site it is built on.
Machine tickets: excavator, dumper and rollerMatt is ticketed on the plant he operates, which matters on a job he is running himself: the director on site is the one in the machine, not a supervisor watching someone else in it.
IPAF trained for powered accessThe ticket behind the scissor lift work on jobs like the Exeter dealership strip out, where steel is hot cut at height rather than from a ladder.
First aid trainedHeld currently, so there is someone qualified on site from the first day of a job rather than only when a main contractor supplies it.
Registered company 15894537Cornwall Civils & Construction Ltd was incorporated on 13 August 2024. Matthew John Richards is the sole director, and his identity is verified at Companies House.
£5m public liability, including groundworks and demolition up to 15 metresA large share of public liability policies in this trade exclude demolition outright, so the extension is worth checking on any contractor. The certificate is available on request.
Work delivered to a third party's designCornwall Civils & Construction has delivered under an external structural engineer's direction and to architects' detail, which is the credential that matters when the drawing is not ours. The work comes from architects, structural engineers, developers and commercial clients as well as private homeowners.
Masonry contractors, groundworkers, drainage specialists and propping trades Matt has worked alongside for fifteen years come in by name for the part of the job they are best at. They are contracted to us and answer to us, not to you.
He led the 45 metre retaining wall at St Ives as director and machine operator, and the same person who walks your site is the one who works out how it gets built.
Scope, sequence and the conditions that would change the figure, set out so it can be read against a tender. If something on site turns out different, you hear about it first.
That is the difference between a job that hands over and a job that stalls.
Cornwall Civils & Construction works from 14 The Strand in Newlyn, minutes from Penzance harbour.
The local record is the part that matters. Matt assisted on Jubilee Pool, the Grade II listed art deco lido in Penzance, where marine grade concrete and rapid set concrete had to be scheduled around low tide windows. He led the 45 metre reinforced concrete retaining wall at St Ives. He has carried out a cliffside restoration on 65 piles, reached by a one ton dumper. Those are the conditions he prices for every week.
Six core disciplines, run in sequence rather than sold separately: groundworks, demolition and structural strip outs, new builds and renovations, drainage solutions, structural concrete and hard landscaping. Driveways and reinforced concrete retaining walls have pages of their own.
We work out of Newlyn across west Cornwall, from the Penwith peninsula through to Falmouth.
See every service we offer See the areas we cover across west Cornwall See the projects we have delivered
Based on 5 Google reviews
Great company to work with. Professional, reliable and well organised from start to finish. Communication is always clear, sites are well run & the team are a pleasure to deal with. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them and look forward to working together again!
Read more on GoogleCornwall Civils have been working on a complex external works package for our project in St Ives. Their works have included an extensive concrete retaining wall, in-situ concrete stairs and an in-ground modular drainage system.
Read more on GoogleCornwall Civils handled a tricky concrete shuttering, steel work, and pour for us on an emergency job. They stepped in at very short notice and worked through nights and weekends to get it done. The quality of their work was excellent, and their commitment was outstanding.
Read more on GoogleI recently had the pleasure of working with Matry at Cornwall Civils and Construction, and I couldn’t be more impressed with the service provided.
Read more on GoogleOne further five-star rating was left on Google without a written review.
Trades we pass work to, and take work from, across Cornwall. If a job needs a specialist we do not cover, it goes to someone on this list.
Send the drawings, the postcode and the stage the site is at, and Matt will come and look at it himself. You get a written quote with the scope and the sequence set out on it, and there is no charge for either the visit or the quote.
Call Matt Richards on 07958 102538 · Get a free quote online
14 The Strand, Newlyn, Penzance, TR18 5HN
Phone: 07958 102538
Email: info@cornwallcivilsandconstruction.co.uk
Hours: Mon to Fri 07:00 to 17:00 · Sat 08:00 to 12:00
Sunday: emergency call out only
Last updated: 22 September 2026
