About the Project

Haymarket Rise, Bedfordshire

It was a difficult start for Jon Kelly, who arrived on site after the previous project team departed and with the scheme behind programme. His genius lay in finding a clear pathway to deliver it successfully.  

The footprint of the build filled most of the site, leaving little room for storage and logistics, so Jon put his planning and organisation expertise to good use. Initiatives such as preloading plasterboard out of normal working hours and having the scaffolding teams work weekends were paramount in giving the site workforce free movement throughout the day.  

When a service connection delay threatened to compromise completion, he took down the external scaffolding to allow the gas main to go in. Then, rather than lose time in putting the scaffold back up, he had the facade rendered from a cherrypicker.  

Beyond the methodologies and technical knowhow, Jon was adept at assembling a good team. He allowed individuals to stay focused on tasks and ensure the site works flowed. That in turn allowed him to clearly identify the logistic challenges and solve them.  

He engaged with each subcontractor so they knew how critical their individual works were and clearly understood the resource and delivery requirement. He then managed the risk through careful programming and close monitoring. He walked every plot and every room daily to understand what was needed that particular day and to ensure that the supply chain was working where needed.