Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

INTRO

My first week at Gatwick has been focused on the thorough induction training required by Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL) and getting time to talk with the people who will be able to get me set up on some projects.

Induction.  GAL are not primarily an engineering firm but more an enduring operation focused on customer safety and maximising the efficiency and quantity of customer flow through the airport.  So the training has been split between the mundane required safety training and the more interesting introduction to their corporate governance.   I will neglect the former and talk a little on the latter especially on some of the training content.  So far my key impression is that the civilian world seems a lot better at doing arrivals compared to the Regiments I have been posted into.

Projects.  On the project side, I have had talks with and attended team meetings with Adam Jones who leads the Baggage Project, and with Gordon Winder who is lead for the Pier 6 Extension and associated projects.   It is worth noting that in most cases GAL are on the client side of the project.  I will talk a little about both projects in general as a back ground to future posts.

INDUCTION

On arrival at Gatwick I was handed a fair size folder listing courses and reading I am expected to complete or attend over the next two months.   Some of these have been online and others delivered as organised training lasting anything from a 15 min sit down to a full day of briefings.  I have been invited to a number of organised training events over the coming months but have only had my Airspace Overview and some NEC4 training this week.

Online Courses.  The online induction courses have been similar to the Defence Learning Environment (DLE) courses we are all familiar with and have had a safety or security focus.  On the most part they are better than the DLE in that they not only have slides to click through but also voice overs and videos to support them.

Airspace: the Company Intranet.  The Airspace overview was simply a half hour introduction to the company intranet but it was useful to have one of the web designers sit down and talk through the site and how to get the most out of it.  For me this contrasted with army experiences where I have, at times, struggled to get to grips with Regimental or Squadron sites, and where I still don’t think we are fully using tools such as the Army Knowledge Exchange or Defence Gateway due to lack of knowledge in how we are intended to use them.

NEC4 in General.  The NEC4 contract training was an hour and a half presentation and discussion delivered by the construction department’s legal representative.   The focus was on the additions NEC4 makes to NEC3 and how they have been applied to contractual arrangements at Gatwick including additional clauses written in by GAL to their contracts as standard.  With the course background on NEC3 from a Quantity Surveyor’s and an Adjudicator’s perspective it was interesting to hear the views of the practising corporate lawyer handling GAL contracts and disputes.  I won’t go into the changes as they are well documented online.

NEC 4 Option A vs Option E.  The lawyer’s opinions on Option A vs Option E were interesting.  Historically Option E was the preferred contract option for GAL constructions and was at one time enforced as “the” option for all NEC based contracts.  The lawyer came down heavily pro Option A mostly on the basis of financial risk.  While risk will always be paid for, under Option A it is down to the contractor to price the risk and unless it falls under the Clause 60.1 list of compensation events.  In contrast, for the client, Option E has all the 60.1 risks but the client will also foot the bill for costs associated with design development, inefficient working, poor procurement, paying for tools priced into subcontractor contracts, and under-pricing/underestimation.  As a result the consensus of the lawyer, and a senior GAL employee also present at the training, was that under Option E the eventual risk pot could be between 50% and 100% of the contract price.

Gatwick Airport Layout

PROJECTS

Baggage.  The baggage project is a c. £200 million project to increase the number of bags that can be put through the terminals and to improve the detection systems.  I won’t labour these projects as they have been detailed already in Lee’s posts.  All of the projects in this area have had their design completed and funds released to execute the works.  Some like the new screening facility are already complete while the remainder are either just starting or part way though their works as conveyor belt lines are upgraded sequentially to ensure continuing operation.  This remains very much Lee’s area and I will be getting more involved as he hands things over towards the end of May.

Pier 6.  The Pier 6 project is a c, £180 million project to reconfigure the Pier 6 and build an extension to the West of the current pier (see layout photo above).  While the Pier 6 extension is still in its early design stages (RIBA 3/4) and is not planned to break ground during my time at Gatwick, there are number of associated projects like moving the Airbus A380 stands onto Pier 5 and re-configuring on of the unused existing stands on Pier 6 that I might be able to follow from RIBA 4 through to RIBA 6.  I hope to get involved in some of these over the next few weeks as I get to grips with what Lee will be handing over in Baggage and what I need to take on from Pier 6 to meet UK-SPEC.

CONCLUSION

All in all it has been a short yet busy week arriving at Gatwick and I am still getting my bearings in many ways.  I’m only starting to get to grips with how the company operates, what I will be taking over from Lee in Baggage and where the opportunities lie in Pier 6.  Its’s daunting but it’s look to be manageable and importantly it looks like it will be a good environment to work in.