MARTIN JENNINGS is a partner in the Liverpool office of building projects and cost consultancy Davis Langdon.
He helps to lead the northern region project management team, working with clients across a diverse range of sectors.
6am: Out of bed early and in the office by 7.15am to catch up on paperwork before the troops arrive.
7.30am: I start the week by issuing a briefing note letting the team know what my movements and availability are this week – an initiative aimed at promoting better communication and understanding of what we do and when we are around to have a chat or review any work.
9am: We’ve got our weekly partners’ meeting. Four out of the six partners in the Liverpool office are around for the meeting. I submit a paper on general office management and we discuss our views on the local market and pipeline management – workload and resource planning are always crucial in a business like ours.
At the moment, we’ve got some major projects winding down, like the BT Convention Centre, some reaching a peak, like Liverpool One, and some just taking off, like Liverpool Football Club’s new stadium, so we need to ensure that we’re keeping our teams busy! But it’s not all hard graft – we also discuss our diary of planned events for our corporate box at the Echo Arena.
10am: I’m then off to meet with the head of project management at the University of Liverpool, over a coffee at the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The university has a huge amount of development planned or under way at the moment, and we are meeting to discuss progress on the various projects we are managing for them.
A key issue for today is assessing the available procurement options for their major new student accommodation project.
11.30am: To Anfield for a meeting with Liverpool Football Club and Liverpool city council to ensure that the Stanley Park refurbishment works are going as planned, ready for work to commence on the new stadium in September.
As a member of our national sports specialist group, I have particular responsibility for the management of major sporting and leisure venue developments. As usual, LFC put on a great buffet lunch – a perk of the job.
1pm: Back to the office where I try to grab an hour with my team to catch up on key issues. At the moment, we seem to have recurring issues across a number of projects in the city where getting power, gas and water either connected, disconnected or diverted is a real challenge.
3pm: I’m meeting with the contractor on Liverpool John Moores University’s Art and Design Academy project which my team is managing. Working closely with the contractor has been particularly important on this project due to its striking but complex design and sensitive location right next to the Metropolitan Cathedral.
We have a good session on programme and cost, which leaves me feeling confident about how the project is being managed by my team.
4.30pm: Finally, I have a site visit to the BT Convention Centre. The project is nearly finished and my visit enables me to review the contractor’s project documentation and get ready to certify Practical Completion in advance of the first conference.
Davis Langdon’s Europe and Middle East Partners’ Conference is being held at the BT Convention Centre, in June, so I’m under pressure to make sure the venue can pass an inspection by 250 of my fellow partners.
6pm: Finally, it’s home to Wigan (I’m a native pie eater) to have dinner and spend some time with my wife and two daughters, who are five and eight, before they go to bed. My final tasks are to file the day’s emails (I’m obsessed about keeping my in-box under control) and arrange our team curry night a week on Thursday.
