078 onoffice March 10 PEOPLE Working lunch receipt ------------------------------------Location The Clerkenwell Kitchen, London EC1 ------------------------------------Travel CR 10 minutes on the bus from Shoreditch to Clerkenwell DM 2 minute walk ------------------------------------Environment 3/5 (it’s not clear if it is a café or a restaurant) ------------------------------------Food 4/5 (roast beef sandwich with salad and horseradish x 2) ------------------------------------Drink 4/5 (bottled beer x 2, bottle of tap water x 2) ------------------------------------Budget £20 including tip ------------------------------------Service 4/5 Good, tap water wasn’t a problem ------------------------------------Time 58 minutes ------------------------------------Health rating 3/5 (great sandwich but the crisps are questionable) ------------------------------------Dean’s top tip for a successful working lunch: “Good company, good food and a nice space” (That’s three – Ed) Working lunch Chris Roche Chris Roche, principal for 11.04 architects, digs in to another working lunch to discuss the pressing issues of the workplace design industry. After last month’s jaunt to Hamburg, he’s back on home turf My guest for today’s lunch is Dean Manning, managing director of construction management company Structure Tone Ltd, and responsible for the company’s UK, European and Asian markets. Dean has 24 years’ industry experience, starting his career as a trainee surveyor within Wates Special Works before working his way up to become managing director of Wates Interiors. We are lunching at the Clerkenwell Kitchen, in the heart of London’s fit out marketplace with more architects and suppliers per acre than anywhere else in the UK. Up for discussion today is the subject of client expectations. For the benefit of readers, how would you describe your role within the office supply chain? I act as an intermediary, managing project costs and trying to ensure the client gets good value. As a contractor, I also ensure that we make a reasonable return on our efforts. We achieve this by taking a balanced view of a client’s project, and delivering what we promise. How would you normally spend your lunch hour? At my desk with a sandwich and a trade magazine, catching up with market news and information. How often would you have a working lunch? At least twice a week, typically in a team meeting with a sandwich, discussing projects or building relationships with clients. What is important to you about a working lunch? Having a purpose, and some sense of achievement at the end of it. Economic pundits are forecasting a doubling of investment in offices in the City in 2010 to £36bn. Given the recent economic problems in the City, do you see a lowering of client expectations within the marketplace? Absolutely not. We have seen client expectations continuing to rise despite the downturn in the economy. Clients want more bang for their buck, as well as cheaper prices. There was a time when clients’ expectations of contractors was simple – to deliver a project on time and on budget. Clients appear much more demanding now – what’s your experience? Contractors are expected to deliver much more. Apart from time and cost, quality is critical and avoidance of risk is fundamental. Are clients realistic in their expectations? Generally, they are. Contractors are having to work that much harder, but nonetheless client expectations are being met. The market has had a correction, allowing everyone to refocus. The more mature clients have retained realistic expectations. Design-and-build contracting was introduced to lower costs. Given where we are in the economic cycle now, how do you see the role of design and build in the near future? The involvement of the contractor in the design stages of the supply chain has improved dramatically in the last ten years. Every job is a hybrid, with an element of design and build within it. It is no longer good enough to get the cost right within the right time-frame, the quality has to be right also. Moreover the process has to be relatively stress-free. Adding value is a well worn business objective. How do you add value to a client’s objectives? Meeting specific and exacting standards. As we come out of a recession, I think that added value Far left Yum yum. Structure Tone’s Dean Manning tucks into lunchtime grub Above The Clerkenwell Kitchen’s external courtyard (lovely in summer, but still a bit chilly this time of year) Far right Where the magic happens Below right A quick stroll through Clerkenwell is in order to work off the roast beef sandwiches Right The cafe sits at the heart of London’s design and architecture hub will come from more effective procurement of goods and services. In particular I see a return to the provision of core services, as to opposed to offering unlimited extras. In the light of recent downward pressures on profitability and rising client expectations, do you feel that profit margins are adequate and that contractors’ business models are sustainable No. Certainly in the last year profit has been insufficient, and this does not reflect the value contractors add to the process. Continuity of margin is arguably more important than rising and falling profit margins. It needs to be commercially sustainable, despite the uncertainty of supply and demand. An added benefit for any client is the press exposure resulting from a successful fit out, and any awards which may follow. These benefits are often tangible, if not quantifiable – how do you see these benefits from a contractor’s perspective? The biggest benefit is seeing a client’s business doing well, and doing better. It’s a huge investment for a client, and they are doing it for a purpose. It is relatively new for clients to value their space in terms of its impact on profitability and staff wellbeing. Awards help confirm you are delivering the best in the marketplace. It’s the start of a new year, and a new decade. What are your short-term expectations for the year, and your greater expectations for the coming decade? Short term I would like to see a return to a normal level of business. I think last year there were peaks and troughs, but what we need is more consistency. My aspirations are to grow market share in a competitive market. Contractors cannot determine the size of the market, only their share of the market. In terms of the wider decade I would like to see improvements in working practices, the way in which we interact as contractors and consultants in particular, and make sure that the contractor’s role becomes more valued and recognised. Although we met to discuss client expectations, I come away with a greater understanding of a contractor’s expectations – for the market to grow; for Structure Tone to capture a larger part of the market; for margins to increase; and for contractors to be elevated in status. Great expectations indeed, and great to see a contractor’s confidence and optimism continuing to rise, despite the experience of the industry in the last 18 months. So while economic pundits are predicting ‘cautious pessimism’ for the year ahead, I am happy to report unqualified optimism for the fit out industry for 2010.