Name: Mike Hill MCIOB
Employer: Bowmer & Kirkland
Project: Tesco Middlesbrough
Contract: D&B
Given this was the client’s biggest ever construction investment, it could be forgiven a little nervousness about whether the construction manager would deliver. Mike Hill’s easy but highly professional style, extensive experience and sheer charisma soon put minds at rest.
He was instrumental in developing the design. Consultative and collaborative, he cemented the most positive of team cultures. He allowed the project to flow with no disruption, so all workfaces and building elements were progressed simultaneously in a safe and efficient way.
Mike superbly programmed an intensive schedule. He used cement soil stabilisation to create a robust working platform for erecting the steel frame and envelope. He constructed the building’s two giant bays concurrently, applying detailed control procedures to combine them successfully at the interface.
He even exploited the strong winds with temporary high-level vents in the cladding to remove the fumes generated by the plant for installing the warehouse’s automated mechanical handling system. His opportunism eliminated the need for temporary ventilation plant.
Mike insisted on a ferocious quality regime that snagged and resnagged until there was simply nothing left to snag. And he ensured there was an audit trail of consultant sign-offs. As a result, the client took possession of the finest-quality distribution centre it has ever commissioned.
Midway through the project, he had undertaken a value-engineering exercise that radically challenged the design standards. It helped generate savings of £1m without affecting delivery. And the delivery of this project was phenomenal: six weeks early, £1.2m below the contract budget, and oozing quality.
Value: £54.6m