Name: Neville Dale MCIOB
Employer: Willmott Dixon Construction
Project: Epsom Grandstand
Contract: JCT 1998
“Having worked in the property arena for 36 years, there are few project managers I’d relish working with again, but Neville Dale is the exception,” declared the client’s property director when this scheme completed.
From passing with flying colours the two-hour precontract grilling by the client to handing over this stunning flagship project, Neville constantly impressed. Unfazed by the client’s hellfire-and-brimstone warnings about the complete unacceptability of failure to deliver, for any reason, the key milestone dates, he clearly relished the challenge.
His approach to this build was exemplary. He knew his stuff, was utterly committed to delivering on time and on budget, clearly targeted his objectives and adeptly executed his work. A skilled team manager, Neville was respected by his staff and the supply chain as well as the client.
He was always looking one step ahead in the project, as is apparent from how he tackled the two critical dates: the completion of the grandstand’s steel frame and concrete steppings for the 2008 Derby festival, and handover of the entire project in time for the spring 2009 meeting.
To gain momentum, he decided to erect the grandstand roof before rather than after the 2008 Derby deadline. It allowed the project to proceed with the interior fit-out immediately after the site reopened following the festival, and helped him manage the integration of the client-appointed specialist subcontractors into the programme.
Neville dealt effectively with the client’s opposition to the standard construction of concrete stepping for spectators. The client felt that horizontal stepping joints often leak, so to mitigate the risk Neville successfully constructed the extensive stepping with vertical joints.
He also eliminated the large financial risk taken on by Willmott Dixon in its bid. With the contractor’s initial costings £1.2m higher than the tender, Neville made the value engineering work.
Savings came from a raft of initiatives. He crushed onsite all the materials left over from demolishing the old grandstand, using it as hardcore. He combined two kitchen areas into one and rationalised the M&E without compromising functionality or aesthetics. And he changed the specification from white impregnated concrete to standard concrete painted white.
Value: £17.8m