Name: Kevin Scott
Employer: Wates Group
Project: Langley Academy of Science, Slough
Contract: JCT 1998
Joining this project in week 12 of construction and with scant knowledge of the project team, Kevin Scott was not in the best of positions for a construction manager. But that just makes his triumphant stewardship of this project even more remarkable.
His success boils down to one thing: vision. He put robust programme management at the heart of the project and challenged all team members to know exactly where the project stood in terms of week number and position against planned at any point. He similarly made the client team and consultants appreciate that any improvement or loss in the design programme was as important as any advance or retreat in the construction programme.
Kevin set key milestones during both design and construction to safeguard project delivery. He personally marked up the programme with the construction lead, reporting weekly to his team and monthly to the client. As the finish approached, he instigated a handover review meeting to understand what handover would mean to each stakeholder. He then produced a handover document that was vetted by all parties to create a handover schedule.
On arrival at the project, he had identified a lack of project leadership and clear direction, and set about defining team roles and responsibilities. He genuinely empowered the site team to operate efficiently within a framework, and made his own high standards clear. He held colleagues to account for their performance, but without rancour, meeting difficulties head on and being firm without being unpleasant.
His outstanding leadership won respect but also affection. He inaugurated a team fish supper on Fridays, following a light-hearted weigh-in for the health-conscious with a £1 forfeit for weight gainers. It all created a powerful sense of belonging.
He took control of the complicated stakeholder relationships. There were three clients each with their own project manager, consultants, specialists and trade consultants plus the school leadership. He engaged the clients and users with regular site tours and ensured that he represented the project at principal and steering group meetings. His relationships with stakeholders were as excellent as those with his project team: he was the only non-staff member invited, by unanimous vote, to the school Christmas party.
Kevin touched and reshaped every single aspect of this project. Safety received a raft of regular initiatives underpinned by his demand that everyone from painter to project manager was responsible for their own and everyone else’s safety. Quality was assured with samples, benchmarks and mock-ups, and an insistence on acceptance or non-acceptance at inspection stage.
Risk management was underpinned by robust dialogue with the designers. And financial management focused on cost, particularly unnecessary cost, with the production team challenged to better the budget in waste management, scaffolding, lifting ops and PPE spend.
Value: £24.4m