December 2008 - Halcrow

Act now!
does it again
Gaining EXPOsure
in Bucharest
£000
Recycling record – Edinburgh’s
Natalie Cunningham and Lauren Fenty
orcester realised £103,000 of
savings by improving its processes,
W
particularly increasing awareness
of how to log changes on projects. “We’re
doing things now that we didn’t do last
year… and it works,” said Mark Teague, a
design team leader.
Simon Casey, who heads up the Worcester
team, added: “We’ve been able to perform
above target thanks to the engagement of
employees and their increased awareness of
change control and commercial issues.”
West First’s £120,000 of savings have
been achieved through improved project
performance, with project contribution up by
26 per cent from the same time last year, and
an upswing in the number – and value – of
project extensions.
150
120
90
60
30
0
This success has been driven by better
project communications with enhanced
planning, regular reviews and applying
lessons learnt to other commissions.
Aligning itself to one of Halcrow’s top
priorities – and in response to feedback from
employees – the Edinburgh team has focused
on sustainability as a way to slash costs. One
of its most popular measures has
been its ‘switch it off’ campaign to ensure
that computer screens are turned off when
not in use. Edinburgh has also promoted
video and tele-conferencing facilities
Worcester and Burderop
Park West First have become
the latest Act now! teams
to celebrate exceeding the
£100,000 savings mark. And
Edinburgh – the other
location in this second stage of
the revised programme – is also
seeing strong results.
to reduce travel, and has worked with LEEP
Recycling to halve the amount of waste
sent to landfill since July 2008. “We have
been greatly encouraged by everyone’s
enthusiastic response and their increased
awareness of practical sustainability
measures,” said team member Ellie Mills.
These sustainability measures are set to
net £10,000 in savings by the end of 2008,
with more savings achieved through project
delivery and cash flow improvement. So
successful have these
measures been
that the team
has upped its
target savings
figure to a
staggering
£150,000.
Take a look
at the Portfolio
of benefits on the
Act now! Halnet site
for a detailed account
of how these savings
were made.
Act now! office savings
Bristol £119,429 (realised)
Crawley £97,000 (realised)
Exeter £99,000 (realised)
Worcester £120,000 (projected)
Burderop Park West First
£120,000 (realised)
Edinburgh £150,000 (projected)
And when the offices complete their yearlong
programme, these improved behaviours
will become part of everyday working life,
bringing ever increasing efficiency savings.
Following the recommendation of
consulting’s operations director Tony
van Emst, the transport planning team
in London’s Vineyard House has become
the latest group to take up the Act now!
challenge. In October, the team began a fasttracked,
four month cascade programme to
improve cash flow management, building on
the experiences of other Act now! teams.
Halcrow rubbed shoulders with Romania’s
most influential water industry decisionmakers
at the Romanian Water Association’s
(ARA) recent annual exhibition.
Now in its tenth consecutive year,
EXPO APA attracts the country’s biggest
names in water supply and management.
Representatives from government
departments, regional water companies
and authorities, consultancies, contractors,
academia and equipment suppliers mingled
in the stately surrounds of Bucharest’s
Parliament Palace.
EXPO APA serves as an ideal forum to review,
benchmark and set targets for Romania’s
infrastructure development. Having gained
European Union (EU) member status,
Romania is facing a looming 2018 deadline to
implement European regulations and water
quality standards.
Over £12.5 billion will be pumped in to the
water sector to modernise and upgrade the
country’s drinking and wastewater facilities.
A third of the population stands to benefit
directly from improved access to better
services if the 2018 targets are achieved.
Above: Halcrow’s team – Andreea Pana, Ara Krikorian,
Andrei Iorga, Paul Constantinescu, Jeni Ionita and
Gheorghe Pana
manage more...
As Halcrow grows, so do the opportunities
for employees. Manage more is the latest
leadership and management development
programme offered by Halcrow to fine tune
managers’ skills.
The full programme leads to internationally
recognised qualifications with the Institute
of Leadership and Management (ILM) and
also provides an opportunity to brush up
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series of modules open to all. The courses
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Find out more on Halnet under people /
group training or email training@halcrow.com