Name: Dean Cobley
Employer: Marriott Construction (Kier Regional)
Project: Brockington College , Leicester
Contract: JCT 2005
Dean Cobley is a people person who puts his project faith in forming strong relationships between key stakeholders while recognising their often conflicting positions. The sheer variety of his fervent supporters on this contract – client, consultants, subcontractors and users have all spilled buckets of ink to cheer him on – testifies to the success of Dean’s whole-team approach and insistence on honesty, trust and frequent dialogue.
Right from the start, he involved himself and his team heavily in stakeholder meetings, even those not directly concerned with design and build, to build a total team ethos. It resulted in a remarkable project team spirit.
Dean had such confidence in the team’s ability to deliver that, even before the first sod was cut, he committed to opening the school a whopping eight weeks earlier than the client’s aspirations. That contraction of the construction programme also generated the cost savings required to bring the school within the project budget while still meeting the design vision.
He progressed solutions as a team, refused to play subcontractors off against each other, and won confidence through straight talking and honesty. He appointed key subcontractors early, and gained the benefit of their advice on alternative methods that better suited the construction techniques. He also involved suppliers in meetings to ensure everyone was familiar with the materials and how they would be incorporated into the build.
His management of the site, which was alongside the still functioning school it was replacing, was so skilful that, as he had promised in the tender interview, the school head was unaware most of the time that there was a construction site in progress on the other side of the hoardings. It was tidy and well organised, with properly stored materials and good parking, and as safe for school pupils and staff as it was for site workers.
Dean balanced quality, timing and budget with aplomb. He worked hard to retain the defining design features, recognised when key decisions needed client and design team input, and had the patience and negotiating strength to strike fair agreements.
Courteous, client-focused and utterly professional, Dean led by example. His proactive and practical management and tight programming achieved all the project objectives, including handing the school over two months ahead of schedule.