黑洞社区

Winner

Cyril Sweett

鈥淕ood financials, client focused, strong submission, great work, good on sustainability, challenging the norm and pushing the boundaries.鈥� That is the highly abridged explanation of why the judges picked Cyril Sweett as the cost manager of the year. Let鈥檚 put a little flesh on those bones, beginning with the financials. In retrospect, most people would say this firm鈥檚 decision to list on the stock exchange wasn鈥檛 done at the ideal time, and indeed its profit did take a knock. But what stands out from the figures is how the whole team rallied to meet the threat: so whereas in 2007/08 each full-time employee was responsible for about 拢88,000 of work, the following year that went up to 拢125,000 鈥� a remarkable increase in productivity, and one that will poise the firm for the upturn, when it comes. Now let us turn to the client-focused point. When AWG wanted to build a 拢55m office in Ocean Point, Leith, Cyril Sweett managed to reduce its overall cost 20%, which is all that any client could ask of its cost controller. As for challenging the norm, this firm has come up with the concept of 鈥渋nvesting in the recession鈥� by, for example, opening an office in Saudi Arabia and promptly winning the tallest tower to be built there. And lest we forget sustainability, how about its work for the government on the implications of zero-carbon homes and its successful delivery of the biggest geothermal scheme in Europe at the King鈥檚 Mill and Mansfield hospitals?

Runners-up

Highly Commended

Ridge and partners

The judges awarded Ridge a highly commended on the basis of an 鈥渋mpressive submission with a fresh approach that addressed the real needs of the market鈥�. Space permits only one example of this: Renault鈥檚 Formula One testing facility in Oxfordshire: A precision-engineered, high-tech structure that was delivered in less than 12 months from planning to completion. This ability is also reflected by Ridge鈥檚 relative position in the sector: it has risen from 67th to 48th in 黑洞社区鈥檚 list of the top 250 consultants

Davis Langdon

Davis Langdon鈥檚 progress to the rostrum has been interrupted this year, although it took a strong performance by Cyril Sweett to do it. Nevertheless, this firm still put on a dynamic performance in the teeth of adversity. It has grown in the infrastructure, energy and industrial sectors, increased the productivity of its staff and helped its clients achieve the 30% improvement in cost, quality and time needed to make schemes viable in the recession. On the way it has assisted at the birth of remarkable schemes, such as Chatterley Valley, the UK鈥檚 first carbon-positive logistics centre.

Faithful + Gould

In times of adversity, the best firms dig deep into their resources. In F+G鈥檚 case that has meant making all its staff aware of the need to win new clients, and it has helped them to do this by rolling out its comprehensive 鈥淏id to Win鈥� training programme. At the same time, of course, existing clients must be pampered, and to this end F+G surveys about 100 of them each year, and then acts on what it learns from them. So far, it has achieved a satisfaction rating of 84%, which is pretty good when you consider that the industry average is 55%.

Franklin + Andrews

If necessity is the mother of invention, then she isn鈥檛 a particularly good mother, but the inventions are worth having all the same. In F+A鈥檚 case, they include the first ever price book to contain estimated values for carbon emissions from construction activities, which will offer firms the ability to combine whole-life costs and carbon estimation. It has also prompted the firm to push the somewhat unfashionable partnering agenda: indeed 41% of its staff are based in client or site offices.

Gleeds

It is probably the 拢200m Northampton Schools PFI that best demonstrates the abilities of this firm. A school is a difficult project at the best of times: a multitude of stakeholders, a multitude of regulations and inflexible deadlines all put pressure on the project and cost management teams. Well Gleeds delivered 41 of them, 23 of them early, and with 17% lopped off maintenance costs 鈥� despite 拢4m worth of variations.

Rider Levett Bucknall

This firm is recognised as one of the best employers in any industry, construction or otherwise. Why? Well for a start it鈥檚 one of the few firms that has managed to maintain employees鈥� benefits, salaries and bonuses throughout the recession. And of course it also offers those staff the chance to work on exciting projects: London 2012 anyone?

Turner & Townsend

Even T&T鈥檚 bitterest rivals acknowledge that it is a class act, and this was demonstrated by its performance in 2009. Of all its activities, the one that stands out, metaphorically and literally, is the London Bridge Shard, which it helped to get going despite a commercial market that was struggling to support the construction of a tree house.