Finding time out in the building and construction industry can be difficult, but time well-invested.

It is good to get in a room with our contractors to talk. A Contractors' Forum held on Thursday 6 February was a chance to do just that with many of them.

Nick Roalfe, Director of Estates Operations, Imperial College, has been leading change in the last few years about how the division works both internally and with external stakeholders.

Key is creating a climate of mutual support, learning and development for College and contractors, and working more closely from the outset to realistic time frames.

Nick told those in the room: “We don’t want anyone to fail, if you fail, we fail, we’re all one team together.”

Leading the event

The event was organised by Amy Shaw, who takes care of tenders and procurement for Estates, led by Head of Projects Delivery, Adam Srodzinski. Both have been with Imperial for around a year and have been working closely on methods of delivering the identified changes and improvements required, including contracts and tendering arrangements. This includes a raft of measures, as explained by Adam, “including more turnkey solutions.”

Contractors were introduced to and addressed by Adam (pictured); Amy, Category Manager (Construction); Head of Building Operations Richard Farish; Head Of Engineering, Energy and Environment, Andy Hammond; Head of Health & Safety Denis Murphy; and John Field, Fire Safety.

Our thanks to the many contractors who found time to join us, including, Kinetic Contracts Ltd,  MH Buildings, Lowe Build, Key MT, Quest, Russell Cawberry, ISG,  8Build Ltd, Arc Group London Ltd, Ark Build PLC, Logan Construction, Oakland Building Services, Wates Smartspace, Quinn, Base Interiors, ME Construction, BW,  AlpineWorks, and Elecro.

We’re looking forward to meeting again, and with others, in the summer when we hope to present contract opportunity pipelines.