QS News Awards 2006

QS Champion of the Year

Guy Austin

Guy Austin has been a fine ambassador for the profession on a global stage during his 26 years at consultant Ridge. His tireless work in that period culminated in a key role on the new British High Commission in Kampala, Uganda. The scheme posed major challenges in terms of sustainability and safety but Austin passed with flying colours.

Frank Maitland

Since starting MaitlandQS in 1987, Frank Maitland has made a major impact on the burgeoning M&E QS sector. The firm is now well established as a major niche player in a discipline that grows in importance by the year. The firm has also made significant strides in addressing the skills shortage in the sector.

Paul Morrell

Paul Morrell leaves the firm he dominated for the past quarter of a century next year. In his time there, Davis Langdon has established itself as one of the premier global brands in QSing. But Morrell has been much more than just a one-firm man. In roles at design watchdog CABE and the British Council for Offices he has offered fresh and erudite ideas for the construction industry as a whole.

James Nisbet

Nisbet is quite simply one of the most influential figures in the profession of the last 50 years. And at the age of 86, he is showing no sign of slowing down. His new book on building contracts, Building Contracts Reformed, offers a fresh perspective on the massive changes to procurement over the last decade, questioning ideas that have so far appeared sacrosanct.

Paul Phillips/Paul Mitchell

What was the most successful project completed this year? Arsenal stadium. And the firm that played a key hand in the successful completion this summer? QS and project manager AYH. For this the roles of both the project director Paul Phillips and cost manager Paul Mitchell need to be jointly credited.

Sponsored by:

Faithful+Gould is delighted to sponsor the QS Champion of the Year award. The category truly demonstrates our commitment to ensuring our employees are ‘champions’ in their given field. We encourage our QSs to develop in the industry, which in turn offers unrivalled expert knowledge to support our clients.

Confirming our constructive expertise in the industry, Faithful+Gould have been short listed for 6 award categories including:

QS Employer of the Year, Best All Round QS Firm, Best Project Management Firm, Young Achiever of the Year, Best Innovation, Best M&E Specialist Cost Consultants.

Best training initiative

APC Coach

In such a hectic industry, how do QSs pass the gruelling RICS qualifications and get adequate coaching and support from their employers? The solution is to outsource training to APC Coach. Candidates can get specialist help either via the in-house coaching programme or, on a needs basis, through public coaching events. The firm claims a 95% pass rate for its students, while the national average stands at 60%.

Durnien.com

As an accredited Investors in People firm, Durnien.com commits itself to an on-going training scheme. Staff are encouraged to learn new skills, explore new avenues and report back though weekly, monthly and quarterly meetings. The result has been happier employees who feel valued and confident in their knowledge.

MaitlandQS

The QS specialist in mechanical and electrical services has set up one of the only courses dedicated specifically to M&E QSing. Having convinced the University of Salford to develop a specialist programme for M&E QSs, the firm then convinced a group of M&E contractors to sponsor and shape the programme. Workshops were held in mid 2006 to guage industry reaction, which was extremely positive. Funding has now been approved and the university is welcoming applications for the School of Construction for January 2007.

Turner & Townsend

Yorkshire Water Services tasked T&T with developing a scheme to help clients understand issues surrounding the Asset Management Plan 4, Large Schemes programme. T&T created LS E-learning, an accessible, user-friendly web-based learning tool. It provides modules in all YWS’ targeted areas for improvement, which are illustrated through the PPP model. The scheme has been a real success and was awarded a certificate of merit at the Yorkshire firm’s Business Excellence Awards.

Sponsored by:

Haleys are proud to be sponsoring the Best Training Initiative award, an award that we feel reflects a true commitment to employee development and quality, whilst combating the ever-increasing skills shortage.

Haleys is a unique nationwide construction and property consultancy that offers a versatile and comprehensive portfolio of services. Our ethos of providing a quality professional solution is consistent across our business. With constantly changing technology and techniques in our industry, developing the right training initiative is key to ensuring the quality and skills of every organisation's most important asset – it's people. Quality is generated through training, development and knowledge sharing. This award recognises the business who obviously puts the same emphasis on this essential activity as Haleys does.

QS Young Achiever of the Year

Andrea Forsythe, associate director, Durnien.com

Associate director Andrea Forsythe has a first class BSc (Hons) in QSing and a diploma in industrial studies from University of Ulster. She is a chartered member of the RICS and an associated member of the Association for Project Management. Her most recent job has been project managing the proposed City of Belfast Stadium scheme. In her spare time she volunteers as an APC supervisor for several staff.

Anooj Oodit, associate director, Turner & Townsend

Anooj Oodit joined T&T after graduating from the University of Reading with a BSc (Hons) in QSing. He is a qualified as a member of the RICS and a member of the Institute of Value Management. Oodit was promoted to associate director at just 28, managing a team of 20. Other achievements include boosting T&T’s rail income by 350% over three years and successfully delivering key projects for London Underground.

Nicola Zapalowski, assistant QS, Faithful+Gould

Having joined the firm only in 2002 as a trainee QS, Zapalowski has since progressed to not only QSing but also acting as employer’s agent and PM on several mixed tenure schemes within the housing and healthcare team in Leeds. She’s acted as lead PM on over 15 projects for five clients. In her spare time she helps senior staff mentor trainees and work experience students. Zapalowski is currently undertaking a part-time BSc (Hons) degree in QSing at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Penelope Crompton, Turner & Townsend

With a BSc in mathematics from Edinburgh University, Crompton moved to London in 2004 to start a career as a QS. She has almost completed her masters in QSing at Reading University and has recorded her full-time experience concurrently for her APC. Crompton is currently focusing on the financial and technological industries. Since moving to the commercial sector in the corporate end user division, she has assisted in the development of the three-year business plan for this sector and is partly responsible for securing new work for T&T. She is a founding member of the firm’s Young Persons Forum.

Timothy Robinson, senior cost consultant, EC Harris

Robinson has an MSc in construction cost management from the University of Reading and has passed his APC. Recent client feedback described his performance as “beyond expectations”. Amongst his achievements at the firm is an £80m new build school scheme in Sheffield and the £30m St Matthew Academy project. Robinson is currently line manager and APC supervisor to three young QSs. He relocated to Hong Kong in October for a two-year international assignment to work on a £350m mixed-use development scheme.

Sponsored by:

mpg are a leader in providing consultancy services specialising in the construction, civil engineering, rail, water, petro-chemical, utilities and building services industries.

mpg provide commercial and cost management, tendering and estimating, contract administration, project management, design, value engineering, claims preparation, dispute resolution, expert witness and document management services as well as general quantity surveying services. mpg have over seventy staff, who are currently engaged by various clients on projects throughout England, Europe, Middle East and the Far East. The head office is located in London and we have offices in the UK,Singapore, Cyprus, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The practice is ideally placed to respond to the client's requirements quickly and effectively.

Bucknall Austin

The firm says it has created software that is the future of property whole life costing. Its unique four-dimensional cost model allows its clients to assess energy, CO2 and capital allowances, with a big emphasis on collaboration. Bucknall Austin is targeting its innovative program at owner occupiers, FM providers and PFI/PPP contractors, and claims it has already saved BAE Systems £5m with this software.

Currie & Brown

Live Options, associate David Weight's creation, was also nominated last year. Since then its use has grown substantially: it is currently being used by the firm for the redevelopment of BBC Broadcasting House, and was recently run on a 23-storey bank in Uzbekistan. C&B uses this software at the early stages of a project with contractors, who then buy into the LO cost estimate as their target cost.

Faithful+Gould

The WLV toolkit is helping F+G’s clients grasp the relationship between costs, time and quality. The software was built with Constructing Excellence, RICS/BCIS and ISO, so uses the proposed new standard for life cycle costing. Its ultimate aim is to stop clients making decisions based on capital costs alone, and the firm offers customisation for sectors such as education, housing and offices.

Gleeds

Gleeds’ FM2 package measures the performance of facilities management programmes and helps cut the money spent on managing contractors, instead making sure it's spent on doing the work. It focuses on both capital and maintenance spend in order to maximise maintenance efficiencies, reduce operational spend and eliminate waste. The firm lists Marks & Spencer, Lloyds TSB and HBOS as users of the software.

Needlemans

This medium-sized QS practice has produced contract change management software that focuses on the NEC. The firm says it worked hard to succeed, with the directors frequently questioning its potential. But now over 100 clients have signed up and the firm feels it has helped advance the industry as a whole, not just itself.