And the winner is...

 

 

The APM Project Management Awards 2018, sponsored by RPC UK Ltd, celebrated the best of project management in the UK and overseas. There were 158 entries from 17 countries, APM president David Waboso CBE told the audience gathered at the glittering ceremony in late November at London’s Old Billingsgate.

Chair of the Awards 2018 Paul Morrell OBE – the government’s former chief construction adviser – commended the quality of the entries and the rigorousness of the judging process. “If you’ve won tonight, you can be assured that you deserved to,” he said.

“These awards are important to celebrate what has been done and to inspire the next generation of project managers,” Waboso said.

And the winners were…

Project Management Company of the Year
Sponsored by Jacobs
Winner: Dyson

Product development projects across the Dyson portfolio and project management capabilities have rapidly grown, the technology company said in its winning submission to APM.

Dyson’s programme management organisation uses NASA Technology Readiness Levels to provide structure around early-stage research, “helping to deliver a broad and expanding product range to market”.

The programme management team has delivered an average reduction of 21 per cent in terms of project duration. There were just seven project managers at Dyson six years ago, but the company now has nearly 70 working across four countries on increasingly complex projects. At Dyson, the majority of research and development occurs in the UK, while the majority of manufacturing is carried out in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and China. Project managers have critical skills in successfully ensuring the transfer of projects from one location to the other. “This requires deep knowledge and understanding of people, communication and cultural values,” Dyson said.

At Dyson, 52 per cent of project and programme managers are female, and the company has “a very active sponsor of all projects in Sir James Dyson”.

The company said: “The business is not afraid to stop projects that are not fulfilling its objectives, whether that is because the technology is not ready or the market need changes. Every project is a learning experience though, and all our lessons learned from cancelled projects are re-invested to make the next project more successful.”

Paul Williams, programme manager at Dyson, said: “To be recognised with everyone else is wonderful, because this is the first time Dyson has entered for an award with APM. This is a credit to every single project manager we have, without whom we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are today.”

 

Project Management Consultancy of the Year
Winner: Pcubed

Program Planning Professionals (Pcubed) won APM’s inaugural Project Management Consultancy of the Year award in 2017, and scooped the prize again this year.

Pcubed is a project management consultancy supporting UK clients delivering complex projects and programmes. All of its 200 UK consultants are project management professionals. The company’s London office remains one of the largest out of 32 offices in locations around the world, and this breadth gives Pcubed access to the knowledge of 1,250 global employees practising P3M.

Pcubed works with the public and private sectors, and APM Corporate Partner companies beginning their project management maturity journey, using traditional and agile techniques, with a blend tailored for each situation. It is working on its third Olympic Games (Paris 2024) and supporting the government with its current portfolio of challenges, from rail and airport capacity to national security and planning for Brexit.

The core element of Pcubed’s structure is its consulting services group, a dedicated team of specialist staff providing thought expertise, leadership, intellectual property development and delivery support. Corporate and social responsibility is also a key element of the structure.

Merryn Horneman, managing consultant at Pcubed, said: “There was tough competition among the other consultancies this year. We are thrilled to have won again. Pcubed’s success has been built on constantly innovating and adapting our services to meet client challenges. Listening to our clients and developing what we deliver has been our recipe for success this evening.”

 

Programme of the Year
Winner: Licence to Operate, GCHQ

Licence to Operate was a project to prepare UK security and intelligence agency GCHQ to comply with the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA). The IPA enables GCHQ to acquire data lawfully, essential to its ability to carry out its mission and keep the UK safe.

The IPA ensures law enforcement and security and intelligence agencies have the powers they need in a digital age to disrupt terrorist attacks, subject to strict new safeguards and world-leading oversight. The new legislation brings together and updates existing powers, while radically overhauling how they are authorised and overseen. The first major milestone, and the end of the first tranche of the programme, occurred in late June, representing the point from which GCHQ can seek to acquire/retain data under the IPA, safeguarding it appropriately.

The genesis of the programme predates the IPA. In early 2016, a team began work to identify the detailed implications of the new law for a highly intricate, mission-focused and technically advanced organisation of over 6,000 staff from a range of backgrounds, spread across the UK and the rest of the world. GCHQ has one of the largest IT systems in the world (the floor space of the main data centre in Cheltenham is the size of a football pitch), which is essential to acquiring and processing the operational data lawfully obtained to support the mission.

Crucially, the programme needed to find a way of implementing the IPA against a series of deadlines shared with a complex and varied stakeholder set, including the Home Office, Foreign Office, intelligence partners, law enforcement and the military, as well as the new Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office. It was also critical to minimise disruption to operations and other programme delivery within GCHQ.

A representative from the agency said: “We are absolutely thrilled to win programme of the year. There are so many projects that we do at GCHQ that we can’t talk about – so we are really proud to be able to come out and talk about this particular programme. Winning a prize is the icing on the cake.”

Social Project of the Year
Sponsored by Provek
Winner: Comfort U Bags, Nationwide Building Society

Every year, thousands of children enter foster care in the UK. Siân Briddon, a project management practice manager at Nationwide Building Society, and ex-foster carer for Bristol City Council, developed a project to give children entering foster care a bag filled with comfort and essential items. She called the idea ‘Comfort U Bags’ (CUBs) and had a project team to pilot the initiative with Swindon Borough Council.

The bags included items such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, toys, colouring books and crayons, shampoo, and book tokens. The backpacks were purchased by the project team through fundraising, and then anyone could ‘adopt a CUB’, which involved taking a backpack and filling it using a content list approved by social services. The average cost of a bag and all contents was £30. Completed CUBs were delivered to social services and placed with children as they transitioned into care.

The methodology for the project was based on the Nationwide Change Framework for governing and delivering transformational change, which ensures that Nationwide delivers changes to the business effectively with pace and agility, while ensuring management of costs and risks within an approved controls environment. The original aim was to produce 60 CUBs, reflecting the number of children expected to go into care in the local area during the project’s duration. By the end of the project, it had produced over 140 CUBs and met the gender and age-group split originally requested by Swindon Borough Council.

Briddon said: “We’re really shocked to have won. We can’t quite get our heads around it. The APM awards are important for the industry, but if it’s a socially beneficial project you’ve been working on, it’s great to get some recognition. Fostering can transform lives.”

Project of the Year: IT and Technology
Sponsored by Hyde Park Solutions
Winner: British Gas Rewards, British Gas

British Gas devised a programme of work – British Gas Rewards – in response to research on customer satisfaction. The programme was designed to understand customers individually, leading to more personalised offers and propositions.

The project required collaboration at the highest levels of the organisation, not only from the UK home managing director, who acted as sponsor, but also from other key areas of British Gas, such as UK customer and field operations. Internal digital, customer communications, branding and marketing, data and insight, partnerships, and legal teams were also key stakeholders, while external partners included Sky, Waitrose, Hive, Local Heroes and Grassroots.

Throughout its life cycle, the project successfully passed through each stage gate. One of the biggest challenges it had to overcome was bringing together a mix of delivery methodologies, from traditional waterfall to iterative and agile. The complexity increased with the number of internal and external stakeholders.

A tight control of scope and the planning process, and a clear understanding of the deliverables and functional delivery lead times, coupled with timely, well-planned project workshops, provided an environment where stakeholders could share ideas and overcome barriers. Benefits included 700,000 people joining the scheme – exceeding British Gas’s target by 40 per cent – and a six-point increase in customer satisfaction scores.

Sat Bajwa, project manager, said: “I am honoured to receive this award on behalf of everyone who has worked on this project and worked to deliver it. It’s an amazing achievement. These awards are the pinnacle of the industry.

Project of the Year: Overseas
Sponsored by Ramboll
Winner: Fael Khair Project for the Construction Of Schools-Cum-Cyclone Shelters, IMC Worldwide

Cyclone Sidr in 2007 was one of Bangladesh’s worst catastrophes, affecting more than 8.9 million people and damaging crops, livestock and buildings. IMC Worldwide acts as project manager to build schools-cum-cyclone shelters in areas that were devastated by Cyclone Sidr, and in other vulnerable zones on the country’s southern coastal belt. In times of emergency, these buildings accommodate more than 2,000 people, along with as many as 150 head of cattle. During normal times, they are modern schools for around 284 students each. Phase one of the programme was concluded in 2018.

IMC worked collaboratively with five local consulting firms: DPM and BCL Associates (for shelter design); and BETS Consulting Services, EPC and DDC (for shelter design and construction supervision). The structural and detailed designs of the buildings were based on the winning submissions of an international architectural competition held in 2009. Two outline designs were chosen from the competition: the two-storey ‘killa’ type and the three-storey shelter-on-stilt type. The designed stilt buildings have a plot plan area of 1,500m2 and the killa shelters are on a plan of 800m2.

Their double function maximises asset use and ensures that the buildings are maintained and looked after between cyclone emergencies. IMC devised and introduced quality management systems to emphasise the quality required by the client, including manuals and systems for project use. The company liaised with government agencies on the management of the project, including selection, construction and handover of the schools. These also liaised with the local population on issues related to construction, with a particular emphasis on site safety and how to communicate the message of site safety to schoolchildren. During the construction, there were accidents involving contractors (all reported and investigated), but none involving children. Given the curiosity of children, and the fact that the new shelters were all on existing school sites, this was an achievement, IMC said.

Project of the Year: Engineering, Construction and Infrastructure
Sponsored by Hyde Park Solutions
Winner: Northern Spire, Atkins

Northern Spire is a striking road bridge that has become a regional landmark. It is central to a new strategic road linking the International Advanced Manufacturing Park on the A19 with the Port of Sunderland, both recently designated as Enterprise Zones. The bridge is already sparking economic growth and development opportunities by significantly improving connectivity, locally and across the region. The innovative project has also raised the profile of civil engineering. The 105m A-frame pylon was transported by sea and river to site, before being raised into position during a carefully orchestrated two-day operation.

The project team included Atkins, Jacobs, Aecom, Faithful+Gould, DTW, Sanderson Weatherall, Farrans, Victor Buyck Steel Construction, BuroHappold Engineering and ROD. Stakeholders included Sunderland City Council and the Environment Agency. The council selected a specialist PR team from DTW and appointed Faithful+Gould to a role in approvals and stakeholder management.

The brief required a “visually significant” bridge structure. Regular reviews during the design and construction phases also helped to meet the target of reducing the future maintenance requirements of the structure, with changes introduced to provide full life-cycle benefits. Through its role of site supervision and project controls, Atkins ensured that the level of quality required in the specification was achieved within budget. A thorough and extensive inspection and testing regime ensured a high level of finish, and significant costs savings along the way.

Project of the Year: Specialist
Sponsored by Hyde Park Solutions
Winner: Naval Combat Systems Integration Support Service, BAE Systems

The Naval Combat Systems Integration Support Service (NCSISS) was a BAE Systems project that supplied a land-based test and integration facility, a synthetic test environment and specialist engineering expertise to the Royal Navy.

To ensure surface-ship combat systems continue to operate safely and at peak capability, the Royal Navy has established the principle of de-risking these systems ashore, allowing new software and equipment to be tested and emergent issues investigated. The use of a land-based test and support facility has been proven to save many years and millions of pounds. Using shore-based equipment, coupled with high-fidelity synthetic test environments, enables comprehensive testing and investigations, and provides manufacturers and technical specialists with greater access to the equipment in a safe and accessible environment.

BAE Systems provided a project team of 60 people, and its elements of the NCSISS service included the provision of expert engineering resources and an integration facility, and the maintenance of complex sensor, weapons and command-and-control systems. The contract to deliver this service was worth in excess of £75m. Good governance by BAE Systems ensured that project was delivered to the highest quality, on time and to cost. The project embedded governance principles from APM, including the use of periodic independent reviews.

Danielle Larter, programme manager, BAE Systems, said: “It’s fantastic to be recognised by APM. I think the team will be surprised but honoured.”

Steve Brown, NCSISS project sponsor, said: “Project management is a fantastic skill and it needs to be recognised and encouraged.”

 

Project of the Year: Transformation, and Overall Project Of The Year
Sponsored by Hyde Park Solutions
Winner: EXCDS into Swanwick Terminal Control Centre, NATS

This project saw the implementation of the Extended Computer Display System (EXCDS) in a phased approach across London Terminal Control Centre, which manages the most complex airspace in the UK. The £30m project has seen the introduction of safety alerting tools, the involvement of more than 800 National Air Traffic Services (NATS) employees and the project transition in a live operational environment with minimal impact to customers, and a significant cultural shift for end users.

NATS is undertaking a major transformational change programme focused on: standardising technology used throughout the business with common technology and operating systems; evolving the security of systems to stay ahead of threats; introducing new features and capabilities to air traffic controllers to reduce workload, improve fuel efficiency and improve the service; and reducing operational expenditure.

The EXCDS project has benefited other stakeholders and wider society by providing: airports and airlines with electronic flight strip technology to keep pace with increasing traffic trends; confidence for any future change programme; an improved understanding for suppliers of the methodologies and constraints within which NATS delivers its projects into service operations; and a proven product that has been demonstrated to operate successfully in the most complex airspace in the UK. Through project delivery, the regulator has also gained additional experience and developed competencies in the use of agile project management.

Peter Dawson, NATS general manager, said: “We have a much bigger team than is here tonight – many people have been involved in this project. It’s a major transformation for us. My tip to someone entering next year’s awards is to plan ahead.”

Craig Wallace, NATS programme manager, said: “There have been ups and downs on this project. It’s not been easy, but it’s been a fantastic journey.”

PMO of the Year
Sponsored by Wellingtone
Winner: Ella’s Kitchen 

Ella’s Kitchen was set up to promote healthy eating for babies and young children. It has achieved impressive growth, with a turnover of £70m and a team of 70.

The business recognised the need for its cross-organisational new product development projects to be run by an experienced team as it grew in size. A number of workshops were held over a six-month period to review existing ways of working and come up with new solutions. A dedicated project management office (PMO) now runs all new and existing product development projects and also supports internal projects. The company’s senior management team now sponsors all new product development projects, too, with decisions being driven by the company’s strategic objectives and revenue targets.

With its two-person project management team, known as ‘Smoothly’, managing 20 projects at a time each, Ella’s Kitchen acknowledged that it was impossible to support all live projects across the business, and so established the Easy-Peasy Project Management Academy to train colleagues. Mark Cuddigan, CEO at Ella’s Kitchen, says the new and existing product development processes were the “biggest single issue” the company faced. “The process now runs smoothly with a happier team in general, as everyone knows their responsibilities and can have the accountability and autonomy we all crave as a result.”

It’s no surprise that, shortly after launching the new process and Smoothly team, Ella’s Kitchen was named one of The Sunday Times’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Ella’s Kitchen programme manager Ellen Jarrett said: “We are surprised but delighted to win the award – we are a young PMO and it’s really nice to have that recognition.”

Project manager Lauren Francis added: “It really demonstrates that any PMO can go on and do the same thing.”

 

Project Professional of the Year
Sponsored by Atos
Winner: Alison McChesney, Coventry Building Society

Senior project manager Alison McChesney made Coventry Building Society compliant with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

For building societies, the implications of the regulation, which replaces the 1995 Data Protection Directive, were far-reaching. Compliance with GDPR touched every business function, customer and employee. The challenge of managing a regulatory project that was categorised as the highest priority in the building society’s change portfolio commanded a high level of senior stakeholder support and engagement, and needed close scrutiny throughout the change journey to ensure compliance by the due date.

The need to manage multiple stakeholders meant McChesney’s experience was crucial. She set up a robust leadership and delivery framework to meet the challenges of: distilling hefty regulation into requirements that would stand up to scrutiny; getting it right for customers and staff to meet their rights as data subjects; balancing the commercial and operational considerations of the building society with compliance requirements; managing a large internal stakeholder population; containing costs for a large and lengthy programme of activity; retaining the commitment and motivation of a dispersed and diverse delivery team over a long project life cycle; and “trying to simplify the complex”.

The project needed to meet all these challenges while having the flexibility to deal with Coventry Building Society’s evolving needs. McChesney leveraged the change management framework to ensure a right-fit level of governance that would enable complex delivery, but also ensure that the process itself did not detract from and consume the delivery. She also made sure that the best communication processes were in place.

McChesney said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have won and it is great recognition. I’ve worked in project management for some time now. Delivering GDPR affected all businesses and everyone in the UK. It was a difficult project to manage, because there were multiple stakeholders across the society. I didn’t expect to win with the people we were up against.”

Young Project Professional of the Year
Sponsored by Ministry of Defence DE&S
Winner: Michael Rusbridge, Pendennis Shipyard

Michael Rusbridge took home the Young Project Professional of the Year award for the Vijonara vessel project, the new build of a 42m sailing yacht. The vessel was designed and its hull built in the Netherlands, before being shipped to Pendennis shipyard and fitted out.

The fit-out involved a range of trades and disciplines, from painting and fairing to engine installation and commissioning. Rusbridge project managed the venture from the late stages of construction in the Netherlands until the end of the 15-month project period. His role included: day-to-day running of the project, including managing and leading the production trades; managing subcontractors; project planning and target setting; owner’s rep liaison, financial review and tracking; and change order and invoicing.

“How I managed each of these items was crucial to the organising and successful delivery of the project,” Rusbridge said.

From the start, one of the clear objectives was to produce a boat that showcases what Pendennis as a shipyard is capable of. That was achieved by producing a high-quality product in a short time frame.

“Vijonara is the perfect advertisement for the shipyard of the work we can do,” Rusbridge said. “It feels great to win the award. I’ve had a nice chat this evening with the other entrants and have been able to understand what they have done in terms of their projects. It’s also nice to represent a small company among so many big ones.

“This is an individual award, but it also represents us as a team at Pendennis.”

Shell HSSE Award
Sponsored by Shell
Winner: Infrastructure Strategic Alliance, Sellafield Ltd with Morgan Sindall and Arup

The Infrastructure Strategic Alliance (ISA) is an integrated partnership between Sellafield, Morgan Sindall and Arup in joint venture as delivery partners. It is responsible for a £1.1bn contract to deliver infrastructure improvements on a nuclear site that manages one of the largest inventories of hazardous material in Western Europe. The ISA typically delivers utilities, security infrastructure, analytical services and road improvements. The projects are supporting Sellafield in its mission to reduce the risk of asset failure while maintaining nuclear safety.

At the time of its submission to APM, the ISA had delivered 2.3 million hours since the last lost-time accident. ISA said that health, safety, security and environmental (HSSE) excellence is central to its culture. It exceeds UK and EU industry standards and delivers leading safety performance compared to industry norms. Through Sellafield’s membership of the World Association of Nuclear Operators and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the ISA programme is aligned with their mission to achieve the highest standards of nuclear safety and reliability, and to promote the benefit of excellence in an HSSE culture within the nuclear sector.

ISA runs an annual survey among employees to gather information about the status of the ISA safety culture to help inform safety improvement activities. In 2018, the survey was issued to four target groups (senior managers, managers and supervisors, staff, and operatives) to obtain feedback across the different levels of the organisation. All non-compliance, where it occurred, was fully investigated at the relevant level, and appropriate action plans and corrective programmes were implemented as necessary. From the findings of the 2016 ISA self-assessment, the ISA has compiled and introduced a set of 10 ISA golden rules for operatives on ISA projects. These rules summarise the fundamental compliance principles that all personnel working on projects must follow at all times. They include aspects such as: wearing personal protective equipment, demarcation of hazardous working areas, safety training and safety communications. The golden rules have been briefed to all project teams, and credit-card-sized prompt cards have been issued to all delivery personnel.

Project manager Lucy Moore said: “This has been a really effective collaboration between Sellafield, Morgan Sindall and Arup. We’ve worked really hard to deliver outstanding health and safety performance. My advice to someone thinking of entering next year is: go for it!”

The Mike Nichols Award for Inspiration
Sponsored by Nichols
Winner: Cumbria Infrastructure Recovery Programme, Cumbria County Council and Mott MacDonald

The Cumbria Infrastructure Recovery Programme (IRP) has helped to restore Cumbria’s infrastructure to full functionality in the wake of Storm Desmond, which wreaked havoc across the county in December 2015.

During Desmond and the floods that followed, there was a huge impact on the county’s infrastructure. Nearly 20,000 properties were left without power and 60 schools, 17 nurseries and a care home were all badly impacted; more than 8,000 homes, 600 bridges and 2.5km of carriageway were damaged.

The IRP is worth £123m, has a four-year schedule and consists of over 1,200 individual schemes. From the outset, its mission was not only to reinstate Cumbria’s infrastructure back to full functionality in the most timely and efficient manner, but also to reconnect communities that had been severed by Storm Desmond, so residents could continue with their daily lives and businesses could continue to operate.

Storm Desmond affected thousands of people. The IRP needed to capture the hearts and minds of both the programme and delivery teams and the communities that had been impacted.

“We knew that collaboration, openness, honesty and transparency at every level would hold the key to optimising the achievement of our mission,” says Stephen Hall, assistant director, highways and transport, at Cumbria County Council, which worked with Mott MacDonald.

Geoffrey Trimble Award
Sponsored by BAE Systems
Winner: Clement Gunasekar

Clement Gunasekar won the Geoffrey Trimble Award for his dissertation Improving Contractor’s Cost and Progress Control Systems in the UAE. The study was an investigation into how Emirati contractors try to control project costs during construction and the root causes of their struggle to meet expected margins. The dissertation was submitted to the University College of Estate Management on behalf of the Open University.

Herbert Walton Award
Sponsored by BAE Systems
Winner: Paul Summers

Paul Summers, senior lecturer at the University of Winchester, won this award for a thesis describing a combined research and problem-solving approach that improved project performance at Portsmouth City Council. His research used a dual cycle, interlinking solving a business problem with researching approach and outcomes over a period of six years while employed by the council.

The thesis focuses on the development of reflective practitioners. A six-month programme was designed and facilitated by Summers. The programme shows that delegates became more reflective and consequently more adaptable, able to improvise as their projects required – while project performance also improved.

Brian Willis Award
Sponsored by BAE Systems
Winner: Tracy Small, Met Office

The Brian Willis Award goes to the person achieving the highest mark in APM’s Project Management Qualification (PMQ) each year. This year, Tracy Small of the Met Office took the plaudits for her score.

Sir Monty Finniston Award
Winner: Peter Hansford

The Sir Monty Finniston Award for lifetime achievement went to Professor Peter Hansford of University College London. Hansford is a civil engineer. He served as the 146th president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and succeeded Paul Morrell as the UK government’s chief construction adviser in November 2012.