Comment III~

CONTENTS

."f

.Jg~6

23-30.08,12

New Civil Engineer

lst Floor,GreaterLondonHouse HampsteadRoad,LondonNW17EJ EDITORIALENQUIRIES Email: [email protected] EDITOR1Antony Oliver

(020)77284541 antony.oliver DEPUTYEDITOR1MarkHansford (020)77284543 mark.hansford CHIEFsua EDITOR1Andy Bolton (020)77284537 andy.bolton NEWSEDiTOR1AlexandraWynne (020)77284540 alexandra.wynne DESIGNER

1

1

DISPLAYADVERTISING1FrancisBarham (020)77284525

RECRUITMENT1ThomasParsons (020)77284520

! j ~~ERAI1 CIVIlS

III~

"",""-""-"";:-'$;-""*-""c",,,,~,,-

www.nce.co.uk

1

3

05

NEWS

Infrastructure in decline NCEand Cecafiguresshowcivils turnover dropping

The next edition of NCEwill be published on 6 September

Contractors

File

2012 »

Inside

COVIER STORY Contradors File'

This year's round up ofhow the industry is performing

16

COMPANY PROfilE Flint & Neill

The companybehind someof the world'smost iconicbridges

Alsointhis issue

06 News

Cost savings queries over West Coast Main Line

07 News

Quick fix for landslide prone A83 ready in weeks

12 Letter!

Tram troubles, Olympie success and water issues

23 GraduateAwards

Your chance to enter the hunt for the UK's stars

26 ICE

N ext year's president pieks his apprentices

30 Spotlight

Surveying the Mn ahead of widening operations

Comment

AntonyOliver

Clients ¹

INTERNATIONALTUNNELLINGAWARDS FORENTRYDETAILSGO10 WWI.'\1.TUNNHUNGAWARDS,COM

l'The civil engineering contrading world bas

,

always been a tough and tiercely competitive one"

k for the best, especially in hard times

Recently l asked a hardened contractor, a man with experience ofliving through and surviving several full blown recessions and a good other few economic downturns, whether he actu- ally found the econon:Ücally diflicult times an exciting challenge.

The answerwas a categorical "no, don't be stupid - it's just a load ofhard work"

The thinking behind my clearly stupid ques- tion was that perhaps, if you were really good at your business and so able to service under- resourced clients with trnly innovative cost saving solutions, tough economic conditions might give you a competitive edge.

Nice thinking, came the reply. The trouble is, he added, while clients are certainly always on the lookout for betterways to deliver and maintain their infrastructure, the bottom line remains king. And while innovation is of course welcome, tried and tested solutions help manage client risk

Looking around at the clear pressure that public clients are under, l can understand that

these sentiments might weil be that case. But l also found it slightly depressing.

The civil engineering contracting world has always been a tough and nercely competitive one. But it has also been a world in wbch good ide as are capable ofleaving a mark While the designers and client representatives talk a good game from their air conditioned offices it is usually the planning made and decisions taken in the field that de termine the success of a project or programme.

Thus a client not prepared to engage with the innovative ideas from experienced contractors could be classed, even in good times, as a fool.

The thing is, modem infrastructure clients are without question, no longer fools when it cornes to spending their meagre renewal and maintenance budgets. They are looking to employ the best contractors and they are looking for ide as, innovation and best value solutions over the long-term.

This year's NCE ContractaIs File returns appear to bear this out Overall there are fewer

firms doing weil in this market. Yet those that are seem to be doing remarkablyweil given the economic backdrop.

Those with strength ill are as such as water, energy and rail, sectors in which clients are looking for better, transformational solu- tions, have seen turnover grow. And while the hitherto big spending sectors such as highways have witnessed a serious slump oflate, there are promises from government that cash will be brought forward for innovative, shovel ready roads jobs. That cannot happen too scon.

Butwhile it is undeniable that, as my contractor friend put is, life will continue ta be Haload ofhard work" for some rime to come- realisticallywhen has that not been the case in

civilengineering?

However, both anecdotal and statistical evidence points to continued investment in national infi:-astructure as a key to economic growth. The ContractaIs File demonstrates that the best will survive.

!IIAntony Oliver is NCE's editor