QS News awards special

Best all round QS firm, Boxall Sayer

Shortlisted:

• Faithful & Gould


• Gardiner & Theobald


• Turner & Townsend


• Gleeds


• Keegans Group

Boxall Sayer

In an extremely competitive category Boxall Sayer edged out some established names by both the variety and size of contracts as well as how swiftly it has emerged as a significant force in QSing. Formed as a merger between Alex Sayer and Boxall Davenport five years ago, the firm has seen turnover nearly treble and staff more than double. The firm’s workload is impressive, not least in its key roles on major public projects such as the £300m Whipps Cross University Hospital in East London.

What the judges said
The judges liked the way Boxall Sayer had approached the strategic development of the practice, controlling expansion so that quality and client service didn't suffer. The firm is strong in the PFI sector as well as regeneration and had some excellent client testimonials. The earnings per staff member also impressed the judges as it suggested the firm had an efficient and productive team.

QS Young Achiever of the Year, Chim Lungu, Turner & Townsend

Short listed:

• Jonathan Carkeet – Rutherford Appleton Laboratory


• Sandra Cummings – Faithful & Gould


• Nicky Farmer – Gardiner & Theobald


• Chim Lungu – Turner & Townsend


• Daniel Hughes – Turner & Townsend


• Adam Tarling – Castles Shopfitters

Chim left Malawi aged 18 and has never looked back since. She achieved a first class degree from Salford University and has quickly impressed her employer Turner & Townsend. The 26-year-old has handled an impressive array of projects and proved an inspiration to younger colleagues in her championing of APC and the profession in general.

What the judges said
The judges were greatly impressed with Chim. She's come the farthest in every possible way, they said. They particularly praised her ambition and drive to succeed at everything she did. Her entry included some impressive testimonials and she was a great role model for those aspiring to enter the profession, they said.

Highly commended Daniel Hughes was also highly commended for his excellent commercial success and the high levels of responsibility he had attained.

Best M&E Specialist Cost Consultant, Maitland QS

Shortlisted:

• Davis Langdon Mott Green Wall


• Haleys


• Maitland QS


• Turner & Townsend

Set up in 1987, Maitland has certainly carved a niche in M&E work, boasting an impressively wide-ranging client list. The firm's work, for both M&E contractors as well as clients themselves, includes the recently completed Light retail scheme in Leeds.

What the judges said
The judges were impressed by the firm's track record, with a client list that spanned the entire breadth of the M&E world. They also praised the firm's training regime and high levels of repeat business.

QS Employer of the Year, Faithful & Gould

Shortlisted:

• Bucknall Austin


• Faithful & Gould


• Gardiner & Theobald


• Henry Riley


• Turner & Townsend

The firm, part of listed group Atkins, has a £1m annual training budget that is spent on a cradle to grave development programme for staff. The firm has targets to increase the percentage of women joining the company
as well as initiatives such as job swaps.

What the judges said
The judges were impressed by F&G's flexible working practices, such as a job swapping scheme, a Junior Board and an initiative that encourages more women to work in the industry. The company had set an excellent example of how to be a model employer and many other firms in the industry could learn a lot from them.

Best Innovation, Turner & Townsend

Shortlisted:

• Currie & Brown


• Faithful & Gould


• Gardiner & Theobald


• Staffordshire County Council/Thomas Vale Construction


• Turner & Townsend

T&T's cost database Inttegra was designed to work seamlessly with the firm’s other in-house systems to increase the accuracy of estimates and improve both response time and quality of work. It has been used
to develop bespoke benchmarking modules for clients such as Nationwide and Anglian Water.

What the judges said
The system was a simple yet responsive package that provided accurate costs data. They said that on roll-out programmes it had enormous potential, and predicted that many clients would want to make use of it.

International Achievement Award, Savant

Shortlisted:

• Faithful & Gould


• Savant


• ChandlerKBS


• Gleeds

The London-based QS and PM has become a key player in Central and Eastern Europe after setting up two offices in Russia and one in the Czech Republic in 2002. Further offices have followed in these two countries and also Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Poland. The firm has managed over 200 commissions in the region, including a $53m (£30.4m), 82,000 m2 retail mall in Almaty, Kazakhstan for client Kazkommerzbank and the Ritz-Carlton, Moscow.

What the judges said
The company has achieved amazing growth in a challenging part of the world. The figures are breathtaking – they now have almost 200 staff and a client list that includes Microsoft, Walt Disney, the Japanese Government and several major Russian oil oligarchies.

Best in-house QS team, Defence Estates

Shortlisted:

• Defence Estates


• Helena Housing


• Lend Lease Projects


• Shepherd Construction

The Scottish division of the MOD's property arm is responsible for implementing the first regional prime contract in the UK, a seven-year £400m programme of maintenance and capital works. The in-house QS team already has an impressive set of achievements. The scheme started in 2003.

What the judges said
The judges were very taken with Defence Estates’ pioneering work in Scotland. The team had introduced commercial decision making processes and delivered a 33% cost saving in their procurement practices. The potential for now rolling the same approach out across the rest of Defence Estates was enormous.

Best Training Initiative, Chartered Surveyors Training Trust

Shortlisted:

• APC Coach


• Bruce Shaw Partnership


• Chartered Surveyors


• Training Trust


• Faithful & Gould


• Turner & Townsend

The trust was set up in 1984 to provide opportunities for young people who would otherwise not have had the chance to pursue a career as a surveyor. Since then it has helped an average of 25 people a year to access a surveying career. It places school leavers in firms such as AYH, Davis Langdon and EC Harris.

What the judges said
The trust provided a great support network that helped companies take on people who would struggle to enter the profession through the more formal routes. It also ensured greater diversity within the QS community. The judges added that there was great scope to roll out the programme outside of the London area.

Best Strategic Construction Advisor, Evolution Improving Performance

Shortlisted:

• ChandlerKBS


• CR Management


• Evolution Improving Performance


• Faithful & Gould


• John Rowan & Partners

Evolution IP helps clients optimise their approach to procurement, construction and maintenance. The service it offers involves training, promoting sustainability, developing collaborative design as well as establishing contractual arrangements.

What the judges said
What really stood out were Evolution's client testimonials and the firm's positive approach to benchmarking. “They've developed a good niche area of expertise and made it work very effectively,” the judges said. They thought there was a big emphasis on their people skills, not just process solutions.

QS Champion of the Year, David Bucknall, Bucknall Austin

Shortlisted:

• David Bucknall – Bucknall Austin


• Francis Ives – Cyril Sweett


• Jeremy Hackett – Schofield Lothian


• Stephen Turner – Sunderland City Council


• Stuart Earl – Gleeds

David Bucknall is the ever-buoyant chairman of the company his father founded. He led the team that floated the firm as a plc, and oversaw its sale to Citex. He semi-retired for a while, but then came bouncing back to head up the team that bought the QS business after Citex restructured, and since then the firm has gone from strength to strength. He currently chairs the West Midlands Construction Best Practice Club and the Birmingham Foundation (a fund raising charity organisation).

What the judges said
This man has had an amazing career – driving his business forward, selling it on to Citex and then buying back the QS side a few years later. But he's always had time for outside interests too, including his work with the Construction Best Practice Clubs and charity fundraising in the Midlands. And as if that weren't enough he's also a fanatical runner, a pretty good drummer... and a keen art collector.

Best New QS firm, Thomson Gray Partnership

Shortlisted:

• Dunrien.com


• Long O’Donnell Associates


• Savant


• Thomson Gray Partnership

As the youngest firm of the line-up, Thomson Gray was formed in 2004 by former Gardiner & Theobald bosses Ron Thompson and Stuart Gray. Based in Scotland, the fledgling firm has already grown to a 10-strong outfit and turnover is approaching £500,000. Some 70% of its workload is repeat business. The client list includes the NHS, University of Edinburgh, Shiprow Developments and City Inn Hotels, Glasgow.

What the judges said
This firm has had a huge impact in the Scottish market over the last year. They were innovative, had an excellent cross section of both public and private sector clients and they were already getting lots of repeat business.