It’s time to put your clients first

QSs should stop obsessing about procurement, according to Colin Wyatt, a senior partner at Gardiner & Theobald who retires this week.

He warned that procurement methods on construction projects were being emphasised to the detriment of other important issues, such as good relations between and within project teams and how to handle clients.

He said, “You never know when the clients will be sitting on the other side of the table, so even if you don’t agree with what their opinions, they should always be treated with respect.”

Wyatt advised QSs to deal with problems on a project as they arise, in order to avoid a glut of claims at the end of a job. He added that if a QS didn’t get on with colleagues, the best option was to transfer to another team.

Wyatt worked for G&T for 37 years and during that time he headed the company’s Scunthorpe office and founded the firm’s Consulting Group. Among his projects was his work on the Torness Power Station.