Name: Richard Black ACIOB
Employer: Simons Construction
Project: Warburton Bread Factory, Bristol
Contract: FIDIC
Just 12 months before Richard Black was due to hand this bakery over, the initial team meeting convened, with neither building design nor planning permission in place and an operational design that was, well, let’s just say fluid.
Welcome to the world of factory construction, which turns on its head the logic of designing the materials handling and processing equipment before starting to design and build the facility that houses it. Richard’s success in managing the serious risks to programme and cost involved in this approach depended on a rare ability to accept that while the approach may not be logical, it is the reality.
He always kept the strategic direction of the project in clear view. And he recognised that a change-rich scheme required an ability to focus on the detail and to anticipate and manage change.
Richard avoided the frictions that commonly develop onsite as client-appointed suppliers of factory equipment turn up with their machinery to the dismay of the uninformed main contractor, whose indisputable role it is to co-ordinate all site inputs. He did so by instigating early co-ordination sessions with the suppliers and installers brought in by the user (in this project, the client was a developer). When installation commenced, nothing had been left unchallenged.
As a result, once onsite, the specialist suppliers placed complete faith in Richard’s ability to deliver for them. That trust was underpinned by his approach of listening first, then considering, before finally stating, with confidence, what needed to be done, when and how. It was all backed up by Richard’s ability to set out clearly the information he needed and the timeframe he needed it in.
Determined to understand how the facility would operate, Richard rapidly developed a knowledge of silos, conveyors, mixers, provers, ovens, coolers, cutters, wrappers and despatch systems. They were emphatically not matters of building construction, but his understanding of them proved critical in delivering the building structure, fabric and services to programme, budget and the huge satisfaction of the user and the client.
Value: £15.2m