Name: Cameron Stewart ICIOB
Employer: Miller Construction (UK ) Ltd
Project: Mixed Development Wm Morrison Supermarkets, Granton
Contract: SBCC
Cameron Stewart may be a high-flier but he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.
On this job, determined to solve the client’s historic problem of severe cracking to its terrazzo salesfloors where pallet trucks cross them from the warehouse, he got back on the tools. Taking up a level, staff and big tape, and demoting his trusty site manager to chain boy for the afternoon, Cameron personally put his back into getting perfectly level the steel plate between the warehouse’s polished concrete slab and the terrazzo.
The anecdote perfectly illustrates his pride in his project and his determination to get the detail right. His example was infectious. An excellent communicator, Cameron instilled a team feeling based on respect and hard graft.
Problem solving and addressing key issues were always his focus. He held 7.30am meetings three times a week with all his team to record all issues on a wipe board, discuss them and develop a plan to solve them. By identifying the key tasks at the start of the day in this way, he inspired the team to wipe off as many items on the board as possible by the end of that day and set realistic completion dates for the rest.
His technical grip was outstanding. A massive early risk was the construction of a retaining wall 5m deep within 1.5m of a medium pressure main that supplied most of the city centre’s gas. Rupturing it would be a disaster for the project. Cameron came up with a temporary works solution that later formed the basis of the permanent works, saving the client a vast sum of money in supply diversions.
Nothing stopped him. When the stonework subcontractor went into administration, he ensured its site team, whom he considered the best in the business for the task at hand, were taken on by a local employment agency and remained on the job, while Miller took over the materials procurement.
He also arranged for building students at a local college to visit his site regularly. He gave them the chance to practise the skills they had learned, was on hand to answer their queries, and made sure they exploited the networking opportunity presented by a bacon roll at the site canteen.
Value: £26.6m