Name: Russell Stewart
Employer: Bovis Lend Lease
Project: 3 Hardman Square, Manchester
Contract: JCT 98
Russell Stewart is usually content to let others take the spotlight, but this time around an utterly impressed client is shouting his praises from the top of the nine-storey office block Russell built in Manchester’s Spinningfields development.
Put through a stiff interrogation in the bid process, Russell emerged triumphant, after pulling off that rare event of demonstrating conclusively to a client that its project timeframe was not feasible without unduly prejudicing both quality and risk. His successful contract victory must have tasted all the sweeter for rival bidders having already committed to the client’s original schedule.
A negotiator and persuader par excellence, Russell pulled the entire project team together by dint of personality, passion and hard work. A series of social and business-led activities allied to a sequence of inspired workshop sessions quelled any doubts and aligned the professional teams with each other.
His communication skills were again the crucial factor when, with the project months behind schedule due to the complexity of the cores, Russell initiated weekly buildability meetings. Instead of adopting the time-honoured technique of bashing heads together to claw back the lost time, he took what some would see as the unwarranted risk of promoting a purely positive atmosphere. The loyalty and collegiality he engendered soon had suppliers and professionals competing to see who could make up most time.
Russell helped reduce programme slippage by storing materials on other sites in Manchester as they were delivered according to the original schedule to prevent the tight constraints of Spinningfields delaying works. He also persuaded the client to disburse funds early so that the original steelwork fabrication programme could be maintained, with deliveries stored until needed. This allowed Russell to erect steel while still completing the concrete cores.
His efforts ultimately had the desired effect, with the project achieving what seemed a very unlikely completion date within budget, and an immensely pleased client championing Russell as a construction manager beyond compare.