North Lincolnshire Council St John’s Market Refurbishment Scunthorpe

North Lincolnshire Council decided that their existing market facilities required updating given their current, poor condition. After assessing various options such as refurbishment and a total rebuild, the council decided to relocate to the site of a former BHS department store and commissioned Mason Clark Associates (MCA) to help modify this space to become a suitable home for the St John’s Market with room for various stall-holders. MCA had previously won a place on an existing framework with the council and were selected for the job.

We were required to undergo a range of Project Management, Quantity Surveying and Principal Design duties as well as including . Indeed, we undertook initial feasibility costings at the outset, helping the client decide the route they wished to progress with by working through various designs, costing options and value engineering options. We drew up the initial programme, design programme, procurement timetable and documents. Indeed, we provided the client with procurement advice to help select the best procurement method for the goals and aims of the project. We prepared and collated the tender documents, managed the tender process and assisted the client in the assessment and evaluation process to recommend the most suitable contractors. We were faced with a tight timescale on this project. The feasibility and mobilisation stage was extended due to the client taking longer than expected to select an appropriate site.

In order to expedite the process to work within the tight timescale we went through a two-stage tender process whereby we helped the client to tender for the works on the basis of qualitative criteria alone, then embarking on a cost reimbursable project wherein a fixed price is agreed with the contractor, who then funds any overspend. We prioritized early contract involvement to get their input on cost and buildability and take not of any abnormalities/need for specialists early on in the project. We carefully programmed our activities at every stage, delineating key milestones, roles and responsibilities and ensuring that communication, reporting, and feedback plans were disseminated at the outset. We used our internal competency matrix to deploy the most suitable individuals based on their skills and experience to ensure the project was appropriately resourced. We underwent thorough document control procedures, ensuring all salient information was properly recorded, helping us to resolve contractor queries in the most efficient way possible.

This project was achieved on time, on budget and to the high-specification that the client had requested, despite the tight time scale. We liaised with existing market traders throughout to listen to their concerns about moving from the old site, working with the council to factor their considerations in terms of space and accessibility into our design.