Holyrood: discuss... how two PMs won MBA funding

Manchester Business School Worldwide (MBSW) picked Richard Barrell of Cyril Sweett for a CIOB scholarship and Bradley Miller of Faithful+Gould for a RICS award. They will have 50% of their course costs covered, worth over £6,000.

Applicants had to submit a presentation on the Scottish Parliament entitled ‘A decision has been taken to spend a lot of money well instead of an inadequate amount badly’. They had to prove they had mastered management, budgeting and analytical skills.

Barrell said he approached the competition from two angles: architectural as well as quantity surveying: “The Scottish Parliament building won an architectural prize, so should you really consider the budget at all? Yet it also highlighted the conflict between quality and cost. We won’t know if it’s money spent well for 10 years, when we know more about the maintenance costs.”

No-one flagged up the risk with Holyrood, or defined the budget. They just bumbled along with it

Bradley Miller, senior project manager, F+G

Miller took a different route: “I focused on the ‘a decision has been taken’ part because nobody had made a single decision. I didn’t agree with the statement. No-one flagged up the risk with Holyrood, or defined the budget. They just bumbled along with it.”

Professor Graham Winch, programme director, MBSW, said: “The standard of entries was very high but it was a unanimous decision that the awards should go to Barrell and Miller. They clearly distinguished themselves by their excellent analytical approach.”

MBSW academics and representatives from the CIOB and RICS practice departments assessed the entries.

Without a doubt, an MBA is the way to get to the top of the
construction industry

Professor Graham Winch, programme director, MBSW

Barrell, 39, originally trained as a QS and is now a senior project manager. He finished an MSc in construction project management two years ago. He said studying “eats into your time”. “But I’m used to studying, I do actually enjoy it and have a genuine belief in lifelong learning. I know what to expect – I think the MBA will be tougher. But time will tell with this one.”

Miller, 31 and also a senior project manager, said he hoped the MBA would help him up the career ladder: “Like the RICS, people recognise it. I feel I can think strategically, manage risk and so on already. But with the MBA, your imagination becomes better”.

The MBA specifies that you have at least two years work experience to qualify and has a reputation for being a tough course. However benefits include an average wage increase three to five years after completing the course of 55%.

The Scottish Parliament building won an architectural prize, so should you really consider the budget at all?

Richard Barrell, senior project manager, Cyril Sweett

“Without a doubt, an MBA is the way to get to the top of the construction industry,” said Professor Winch. “If you want to become a partner or a director, then this is how you do it.”

The MBA for Construction Executives was launched in January. It is designed to appeal to managers within all construction disciplines.