T H E Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E O F B A L F O U R B E A T T Y C A P I T A L I N T H I S E D I T I O N

W I N T E R 2 0 0 8

Mee t ing cu s t oMer need s & e x pec tat ion s‘Moving Forward’ in Birmingham

supporting schools in south africa

T H E Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E O F B A L F O U R B E A T T Y C A P I T A L I N T H I S E D I T I O N

W I N T E R 2 0 0 8

n e w s r e v i e w M e e t ing cus tomer ne eds and e x p e c ta t i ons

2 0 0 8 s k i d i a r i e s Rep o r t s back f r om F l ims- L aa x

c o n s o r t H e a l t h c a r e ‘ M ov ing Fo r ward ’ in B i rmingham Bidding update

c o n n e c t r o a d s C onne c t Roads updateP r ov id ing an enhanc ed se r v i c e B idding updateS t r e e t l igh t ing in 20 0 8

tr a n s f o r m s c h o o l s Supp o r t ing scho o ls in S ou th A f r i ca Bidding update

o u r p e o p l e Sp o t l igh t on… Ron G o rdon

t h e q u a r t e r i n p i c t u r e s / n e x t q u a r t e r

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WW eL coMe & updat e elcome to the winter edition of Capital Q.

We start 2008 with another extremely busy year ahead of us. Our continued success in 2007 in winning new business has given us the challenge of closing four projects, namely, Islington Schools, Fife Hospital, Carlisle Northern Development Route and ITE College West in Singapore; with, I’m sure, more to come. Our construction activities will be at their height with three major hospital schemes all in full swing, a busy schools building programme and numerous smaller scale construction activities across various other projects.

Finally in bidding, while the number of hospital schemes coming to market may not be as many as we would like, our BSF schools bidding and infrastructure activity will show a marked increase.

To support this growing workload we expect our staff complement to be approaching 300. We will be spending more on staff training and development than ever before and to help manage and support this we will soon be launching our bespoke training and development platform, Capital College.

During 2008 we will continue to grow and develop The Library. Currently around 70% of the company’s data storage activities are based on The Library, with the remainder to be transferred this year. The development and use of IT to support the businesses is a key aspect of our operations and we will continue to invest heavily in this area.

Despite being busy, Balfour Beatty Capital should also be a place to have some fun. There are numerous events planned for 2008; make sure you join some of them…

ian rYLatt, MANAGING DIRECTOR

Our construction activities will be at their height with three major hospital schemes

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B alfour Beatty Capital is nearing completion of its current round of market research designed to gain insights into whether the company is meeting customer needs and expectations both during bidding and operations.

Three research projects are currently underway: Buyer Decision; Patient Experience; and Operations Research.

B u Y e r d e ci s io nLast year, the first round of buyer decision research was reported to BBCap staff. Based on interviews with public sector project teams from bids BBCap won and lost, the research identified three main traits clients were looking for in a partner: understanding of values; skills and resources; and communication and relationship. In response to this feedback, accommodation bid teams participate customer intelligence workshops, designed to build emotional intelligence and influencing skills with specific reference to the current bid.

The year two results of the Buyer Decision research will be reported in July 2008

pat ie n t e x p e r ie n c e Digging a bit deeper into customer satisfaction are two Patient Experience research projects conducted in partnership with the Trusts at Durham and Blackburn. In response to the Patient Choice agenda in England, survey’s were commissioned to identify factors that patients and staff think are most important to the delivery of excellent patient care were, and how well the hospital was meeting their expectations.

At both hospitals, communication with patients, clean facilities and professional staff were identified as the most important factors to providing good patient care - and at both hospitals, the staff and patients reported good performance. Areas for improvement included parking (both access and availability) and catering services. At both sites, the majority of those surveyed indicated that they would recommend the hospital.

Consort is working with both of the Trusts to present these findings and identify joint strategies to enhance customer service for patients.

o p e r at io n s r e s e a r c HFinally, the research is complete, and analysis is taking place on the wider Operations Research - survey of senior management and key stakeholders partners from Transform and Consort concession on how well Balfour Beatty group companies are performing in a variety of customer service measures. The results of this work will be available later this year.

Meeting customer needs and expectations

I2007 Employee Survey results

ne W s re v ie W

n 2007 BBCap had over 80% response rate to the employee survey, which is a fantastic result as most organisations view 60% as a good rate of response, so thank you to everyone for your contributions. We are pleased to announce that employees’ satisfaction level has remained the same as 2006, which is noteworthy given the fact that we have grown rapidly over the last few years.

The survey results were predominantly very positive and showed a number of significant improvements since 2006. Particularly impressive has been the improvement in perceptions of management capability. Combined with the greater reliability of team meetings, these are the factors which support success.

The main area highlighted for improvement was IT support. BBCap welcomed over 70 new starters to the company last year, furthermore, IT provides support to BB plc and Exeter Airport resulting in a 250% increase of end users. We are conscious that the increase in users has put a strain on the IT department and we have already increased resources in the team and welcome Carol and Gareth. In addition, we are recruiting a number of IT technicians to help ensure all employees receive the support they require. A full report on the survey results can be found on the Library under the news items.

di v e r s i t Y F o r u MBalfour Beatty Capital has always recruited from a diverse background of people and it has been a key strength to us as a company. We currently employ over twenty different nationalities and a central ambition in developing our employee pool has been the emphasis we have placed on recruiting women. It is important that we now give this diversity a voice to ensure that individuals’ differing needs are both recognised and addressed. Helen Wills has been appointed as chair on the BBCap diversity forum, the group met for the first time this month. If you would like to join the forum or for any further information please contact Helen Wills at helen.wills@bbcap.co.uk

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T2008 ski diaries his year’s BBCap ski trip was a huge success. On the slopes the teams split up depending on ability. Here are some of their ski diaries…

s K i dia rie s 2008

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BoB reidT R A N S ACT IO N M A N AG ERr e d t e a M ( in t e r M e di at e )

I had heard great reports about previous ski trips, and I thoroughly enjoyed my first one, both on and off the piste.

Having joined recently, I was delighted to have the

opportunity to get to know a wide range of BBCap staff and to share their enthusiasm for life in general and skiing in particular! The arrangements were first rate so special thanks are due from me to Anke, Phillip and Nigel.

s t epH a nie MiL L sA S S IS TA N T CO M M U N ICAT IO N S M A N AG ERg r e e n t e a M ( B e gin n e r )

Having never been on skis before, day one was quite a challenge. Most of the group did some spectacular falls, which unfortunately were caught on camera.

A number of us improved a great deal after a morning of lessons and we were brave enough to leave the nursery pen. By day three we were stranded at the top of the mountain in a snow storm. When we finally made it down the slope in one piece we celebrated with a spectacular snowball fight before heading into Laax for après-ski.

I would highly recommend next year’s trip for any cautious first timers as we were really made to feel like part of the group.

g a rY Be s tw h O L E L I F E CO S T M A N AG ERp in K t e a M ( o F F- p i s t e )

Day 1 and the pink team have got a guide. He immediately takes them into crusty, clingy, deep snow for their first run in a year. Geisselmann (knee), Best (nose) and Orrell (confidence - snow plough

off-piste is not a good look) suffer badly.

Day 2 and the pink team are a man down (Geisselmann - knee), but have gained the team camera man Mad dog MacFarlane and the French boarder Gatinot, who ski at breakneck speed in some good powder for the camera and spread the group. But it is Pascall who, when not in wardrobe before each run, gets the marks for style.

Day 3 and the pink team are stranded on the baby slopes by the weather. This leads to a dangerously early finish...

Day 4 and the pink team have the beautiful weather back, but Gatinot (après-ski) with a promising ski future behind him, fails to appear early doors leaving the steady and reliable Appuhamy to challenge Pascall for skier of the week.

O n 13th December 2007, a special evening performance took place at the Queen Elizabeth Psychiatric Hospital (QEPH) in Birmingham. The event marked the culmination of ‘Moving Forward’ - a creative writing project organised by Consort Healthcare for staff and service users at the QEPH. The initiative ran from September to December last year.

The Moving Forward project focused on the transition for staff and service users from the current service at the QEPH and the transferral of services into the new hospital in 2008. The project was designed to help staff and services users during this transitional phase. Staff and service users in nine different ward and work areas participated in the workshops producing a myriad of poems and prose pieces on the upcoming move to the new hospital.

Louise Stokes, a local performance poet and writer who led the creative writing workshops at the QEPH, hosted the performance evening. Work was also exhibited for staff and service users to browse. During the evening, staff and service users not only took to the mike to perform some of their work from the project but also ad-libbed and undertook a few musical duets! (Charmaine Richards, main picture, gave an insightful poetry performance)

The facilities are due to be open by the end of summer 2008.

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‘Moving Forward’ in Birmingham

con sor t He a Lt Hca re ne W s

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con sor t He a Lt Hca re Bidding updat e

s ou t H a Mp t on c a nce r ce n t r e

“We had been due to bid for this project as part of a consortium with alfred Mcalpine but plans had to be redrawn once carillion made its offer to take over Mcalpines. our plan is now to bid this project with a construction joint venture of Balfour Beatty construction/cowlin and Haden Young. given the importance of equipment in the contract we have entered into a joint venture with equipment specialist asteral. We expect the oJeu for this project to be issued in March 2008.” Chris Sargent

oM a gH

“it may have taken six months from the date we submitted our pre-qualification submission but it is still great news to have been asked to reconfirm our commitment to this £150m project. We now expect the competitive dialogue process to get under way before easter on this interesting project which combines a local general hospital, mental health hospital and primary care centre on a beautiful site just outside the town of omagh.” Sam Gallaher

e nni s K iL L e n

“Following a delay of six months while the trust significantly re-scoped the project we are now in the final run-in to submitting the final bid in mid-February. the re-scoping has included the trust transferring responsibility for ground consolidation following a landslide which occurred whilst the trust’s enabling works contractor was on the site. this first major hospital project under competitive dialogue process has tested all the bidders and the trust in terms of endurance… but we are still standing and the finish is in sight. Huge efforts

in the last couple of months have gone into improving the affordability of our bid and into resolving issues in the project agreement and schedules so that we will be very close to commercial close if we are made preferred bidder. that decision is due to be taken in May 2008.” Tzvetelina Bogoina and Philip Doyle

FiF e

“it was excellent news to get the preferred bidder letter which nHs Fife signed just before christmas. the negotiations over the letter had been much longer and more complicated than anticipated but we have now come to an agreement on costs, the design and the programme which gives everyone much more confidence going forward. the signing of the preferred bidder letter coincided with full planning permission being granted for the site – another huge milestone towards financial close. there is a renewed feeling of momentum on the project in 2008 and we are looking forward to site investigations beginning on site very soon.” Andy Hatton

TConnect Roads Update he winter weather always has the potential to take the edge off a great operating year, in the road and streetlighting businesses. The elements affect us in many ways, wind; reducing production in column erection, rain; delaying electrical connection, whilst the potential for ice formation and flooding keeps the Winter Teams busy, night and day. In addition users are less likely to travel and therefore this could affect road concession revenues. This year’s variable weather, whilst keeping the planners and doers on their toes, has been considered relatively benign for us (so far!).

We are now focused on delivery of the Highways Agency’s traditional additional works spending up to the end of its financial year in March.

Sunderland streetlighting remains on track for completion of the five year Core Investment Programme in August, whilst Derby streetlighting continues to find its first year feet. Together with South Tyneside the three streetlighting delivery contracts are now under BB Infrastructure Services management, having completed the switch from BB Power Networks at the beginning of January.

andY BeaucHaMp, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

EProviding an enhanced service nsuring journey time reliability is high on the agenda for the Highways Agency and for Connect Roads. To help support this, Connect has been working with the HA to introduce four new incident support units to the Connect fleet.

In summer 2006 the A30/A35 team trialled the use of one of these vehicles. Every Saturday the section of the A35 between Bridport and Bere Regis was patrolled between 8am and 2pm, as these are the regular ‘surge’ times of weekend and holiday traffic between the Home Counties and the West Country.

The ‘roving patrol’ consisted of two staff and an all-purpose vehicle, ensuring traffic movement was maintained by removing any items of debris deposited within the traffic lanes, aiding broken down vehicles and assisting at other minor incidents.

All incidents were logged, including time, direction, response time and any direct source of the incident to enable the effect of the trial to be evaluated.

The trial was deemed to be particularly successful as response times were generally cut by 30 minutes and on two specific occasions incidents that could have caused major congestion were responded to within 10 minutes and problems avoided. The data produced was analysed, along with existing incident information, to create a strategy for summer 2007 and summer 2008.

It is hoped these additional units will have a positive impact on the A50 and M1-A1 and support the Highways Agency’s journey time reliability agenda.

connec t roa d s ne W s

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c a r L is L e nor t He r n de v e L op Me n t rou t e

“since being awarded preferred bidder status we have been working diligently to agree the preferred bidder letter and get a pre-development agreement in place to allow key activities such as design to commence.

We have developed key processes and tools, and have established working groups to resolve outstanding issues with the county council and their team. We hope to achieve financial close by June 2008.

relationships remain strong and a positive attitude exists between all parties involved.” Nigel Blackbee

M 8 0 s t e p p s t o H a gg s

“We are currently engaged in the dialogue period clarifications process with transport scotland who have now confirmed that both bidders have cleared the initial hurdles and are affordable. under the current programme, transport scotland intend to close the dialogue period at the end of February and invite Final tenders to be submitted during March.” Alan Gibson

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“all three bidders for the £1.5 billion M25 road widening scheme will be re-submitting their bids in the next quarter for re-evaluation. the Highways agency hope to remain on track with the timetable and award the contract this year.” Nigel Lelew

connec t roa d s Bidding updat e

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connec t roa d s updat e

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IStreetlighting in 2008 n 2008 BBCap will be bidding for a number of new streetlighting projects. Here is a low-down on streetlighting... W H Y a r e W e in t H e s t r e e t L ig H t in g M a r K e t ?

Streetlighting is a market that other BB OpCo’s have been involved in for some time and with increasing numbers of Local Authorities turning to PFI it was agreed that BBCap would support PFI submissions. The concessions include significant installation of new equipment over a five year period together with a substantial ongoing maintenance requirement providing long term continuity of work. The concessions extend the range of our portfolio and offer a reasonable return without significant risk providing the works are carried out by a competent contractor. W H at d o W e d o t o r e d u c e L ig H t p o L L u t io n ?

The new installation will be with the latest equipment which is all designed to reduce light scatter whilst improving the lighting at street level. There have been various commendations from astronomers in areas where new lights have been installed regarding the improvement in light pollution.

H o W d o W e a d d r e s s c o M M u ni t Y s a F e t Y ?

Considerable effort is made to engage the local community in the installation programme with all households contacted and informed on the proposed works. Working at street level pedestrian and vehicle traffic safety is a priority and all operatives are trained and monitored to ensure a safe environment exists at all times for themselves and others. W H at ’ s t H e av e r a g e L iF e- s pa n o F a L ig H t B u L B ?

Light bulbs, which are generally referred to a “lamps”, will last for several years depending on the duration they are lit. In order to attain high levels of consistent lighting all lamps are changed as a matter of routine every two to three years. This generally ensures that only a few lamps will fail and need replacing in between. W H at a r e t H e M a in p r o B L e M s W e n e e d t o o v e r c o M e W H e n ta K in g o n a s t r e e t L ig H t in g c o n c e s s io n ?

A lot of liaison is required with residents. People often either don’t want a new light outside their property or are upset that one is being removed! Although it is not always possible to meet everyone’s desires a compromise is achieved. The installation period also provides a challenge to ensure that access is maintained to properties. Generally however residents are very pleased when the new lights are turned on.

a n Y in t e r e s t in g t H in g s a B o u t s t r e e t L ig H t in g ?The surface coating is scratch proof and dog proof•They are not missed until they go out•Astronomers like our streetlights•

ESupporting schools in South Africa

t r a n sForM scHooL s ne W s

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M a in i M a g e :

The exterior of Gato School in a state of disrepair.

t o p d e ta iL : Gato Secondary school children taking exams at Retford Oaks desks.

M id d L e d e ta iL :Emmanuelle Primary School - a 120-place primary school with children aged 4-11. The school has no running water or electricity.

B o t t o M d e ta iL :Children using desks from Tuxford School.

ducation For All (EfA) is a not-for-profit social enterprise that provides funds and resources to advance education through specific development projects in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Balfour Beatty is recognised as the founding contractor for their work and in the past few months Transform Schools Bassetlaw has helped to make a huge impact on a number of schools in South Africa.

Furniture from seven schools in Bassetlaw was considered to be fit for use by schools in Africa. Gary Fisher, Deputy General Manager for Transform Schools Bassetlaw, recently paid a visit to the Eastern Cape and was amazed to see what a difference their contribution was making.

“We visited a number of schools out there and we were astounded by the gratitude of the pupils and staff who were benefiting from our old furniture. Pupils were taking exams on the old school desks and seemed surprisingly happy considering they were sitting an exam! The trip has made a lasting impact on me personally and I plan to do more to help, as a small contribution really does go a long way in such deprived areas.”

If you would like to find out any further information on Education for All, visit their website at:

W W W. e d u c at io n F o r a L L . c o M

or contact Gary Fisher on gary.fisher@transformschools.com

t r a n sForM scHooL s Bidding updat e

de r BY s Hir e B s F

“it is a busy time on derbyshire BsF as the weeks are packed with meetings with the schools and authority representatives. However it is also an exciting time as the weeks of dialogue crystallize into designs for the schools and proposals begin to take shape in preparation for the submission on 26th March.” Alison Stewart

nottingHaM BsF

“it is with great disappointment that we have been informed that we have been unsuccessful in our final bid for nottingham BsF.

i would like to personally thank all BBcap staff who have been part of this bid over the last 14 months from pQQ. it has involved tremendous effort, which has unfortunately not been enough on this occasion.” Martin Sweeney

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sandWeLL BsF

“We are currently at the invitation to participate in dialogue (itpd) stage for sandwell BsF. since we submitted the itpd response our team has been out and about quite a bit in sandwell, getting to know the people and area better - good both for team “esprit de corps” and local familiarity - and we certainly feel ready to go!” Claire Douglas

isLington BsF

“Having demonstrated to the council and pfs that sufficient progress had been made towards financial close before christmas, mobilisation and advanced works began on three sites on 28th January. the target date for financial close is now the end of February. our commercial team are working closely with our sister companies and partners to achieve this.

a Local education partnership office is being established with the council on upper st and Jerome Kearns with 2 new starters pat duggan (design & construction Manager) and tia sorenson (project secretary) will move in early in February. Juliet Fraser and sarah clipsham are also working hard in partnership with the council to get our sustainability plans off the ground and some exciting ideas involving the schools are being followed through in conjunction with BBcap’s sponsorship of Whittington park” Jerome Kearns

s ou t H Wa r K B s F

“on 28th november, we were selected as one of three bidders to progress to ‘invitation to continue dialogue’ (itcd). the other two bidders are Mouchel parkman Babcock (MpB) and vinci investments. the dialogue meetings with the council began on 4th december and the design development stage is progressing well. the itcd submission is due in on 3rd april and after a clarification period, the number of bidders will then be reduced to two.” Michael Tutty

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our peop L e

s p o t L igH t on . . . ron gor don

i H av e B e e n at B B c a p. . . from the outset and have worked in BBCap offices in Angel, Walton, Victoria and of course Regent’s Place. I have watched the steady growth in the portfolio and of course staff from what was initially a handful of people to what is now a fully fledged operating company within Balfour Beatty.

M Y r o L e in c L u d e s . . . As Business Manager for the M77/GSO, M1-A1 and three streetlighting concessions I enjoy a variety of tasks including both technical and commercial. The two road concessions have different payment mechanisms although both include a shadow toll which requires us to count the vehicles using the project road. The traffic data is produced continuously from 18 sites on each road and payment is calculated from the monthly vehicle count. The equipment is also verified by video survey every three months to prove that it is counting correctly within the very tight accuracy parameters specified. On the M77/GSO lane closures are also recorded and a monthly deduction calculated as part of the payment is based on availability of the road.

The streetlighting concessions involve the erection of columns and signs during an initial five year programme that will bring the lighting up to a high standard. The remaining twenty years is primarily a maintenance operation. The installation which includes the design has transformed many of the urban streets providing a safer and more secure environment at night. The initial five year period is fairly intense and the payment mechanism is surprisingly complex for what is essentially a fairly straightforward operation!

My job entails a fair amount of interrogation of the project documents and the production of brief reports on a wide variety of topics. As we progress further into the concession period one is very aware that everything is dictated by what it is in the project documents and the interpretation of these is a frequent part of my role. A wide experience of both technical and commercial aspects is particularly useful in this context.

t H e pa r t o F M Y J o B i e n J o Y t H e M o s t i s . . .Whilst there are a number of routine activities required often on a monthly basis I also enjoy the variety of tasks produced by the different concessions and issues that arise. I particularly enjoyed the one off task of managing the construction of the M77/GSO Operations Centre. It was exciting to see a very muddy area of redundant land turn into a state of the art operational base for the project road. Placed in an ideal location for access to the network the offices provide excellent working facilities and the investment by the shareholders shows a significant commitment to the people and ensuring the success of the project.

i J o in e d B a L F o u r B e at t Y. . .20 years ago and started life as an Engineer in Civil Engineering Major Projects on the M25 (J11-13) Widening scheme. I was involved in the early construction planning of the Barking Power Station and can claim to have walked under the Thames in the inlet tunnel which of course is now full of water! I later became a bid manager for Civil Engineering before transferring to BBCap.

t H e c o n n e c t t e a M . . .has a lot of expertise amongst the individuals enabling us to respond to a wide variety of issues and generally to ensure that the Connect brand achieves a high level of excellence. They are a fantastic bunch to work with.

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tHe Quarter in pictures

Bi r mingham h o sp i t a l ’s impr e s s i v e sh e l l b eg ins t o t ake shap e

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Dav id M o s s g i v ing a p r e s en t a t i on a t the 20 07 Tr ans f o r m Par tne r s C on f e r enc e

A dr ian w o o dr up t ak ing par t a t the w in t e r M anagemen t C on f e r enc e 20 0 8

Gar y Best wins f irs t pr ize . . . Seeing of f the likes of RBS and K PMG in an intensegame of heads or tails at the Sale Chr is tmas Par t y

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i t e p r e s s l a u n c h e v e n t 18 th Feb r uar y 20 0 8

a r t w o r k u n v e i l i n g a t Q u e e n e l i z a b e t h h o s p i t a l 19 th Feb r uar y 20 0 8

K n o w s l e y f i n a n c i a l c l o s e p a r t y 21s t Januar y 20 0 8

s a i l i n g p r a c t i c e 28 th Mar ch - 30 th Mar ch 20 0 8

c o n s o r t c o n f e r e n c e 28 th A pr i l - 29 th A pr i l 20 0 8

next Quarter

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