NORWEST HOLST

Norwest Holst Construction, based in Sir Frank Whittle Road, Derby, secured a £22.6m contract to design and build a new distribution centre for Mastercare, part of the Dixons electrical group. The office’s previous biggest order was for a £19m warehouse for catalogue store chain Argos at Barton-under-Needwood. Norwest Holst also won the orders for work in Leicester and Birmingham. The biggest of them was worth £15.7m and was to design and build a five-storey biomedical research facility for the University of Leicester.

The other contract, for £7.8m, was to design and build a distribution warehouse, similar in size to the first Egg building on Derby’s Pride Park, with three-storey offices for Richardson Developments at Merlin Park, Erdington, as part of a major regeneration project of the former Fort Dunlop complex. A spokesman for Norwest Holst said, “The awarding of both these contracts is an exciting and encouraging start to 2003. This is the best start that we’ve ever had to a new year since we opened our office in Derby in May, 1997. It shows that there’s confidence in the construction market in the East Midlands.”

Kurt Calder, spokesman for the Construction Confederation, which represents building contractors, subbed the contract wins “wonderful news”. He added, “It confirms that the construction industry in this county is in a very healthy state. There’s been steady and sustained growth in all areas. It shows that we’ve left behind the ‘boom and bust’ years.” Norwest Holst won the bronze award at the national Considerate Constructors Scheme awards. The firm won the prize for the work it carried out at Brigshaw High School in Castleford, West Yorkshire, which was completed in June, 2002.

The awards are designed to recognise and reward construction companies which have demonstrated outstanding levels of site management and consideration towards the community while work is being carried out. David Hardy, general manager of the scheme, said, "The awards are a fantastic opportunity to formally recognise those sites that lead the industry in terms of consideration for their neighbours and in terms of good working practices. Norwest Holst Construction Ltd has shown commitment to the welfare of the local community by accommodating all of the neighbours' requirements of access and noise-control."

Tony Hall, regional director of Norwest Holst Construction Ltd, said, "We're delighted to receive this award as it demonstrates our commitment to give full consideration to the general public when constructing our projects." However, as reported in Private Eye:

"... In 1994 Stoke-on Trent councillors pledged £4.7m from town hall coffers to help fund what was dubbed the 'cultural quarter project', involving the regeneration of the Regent and Victoria theatres. The rest of the estimated £22m required came from the national lottery (£16m), plus £1m from the European regional development fund. The project was completed in 1999 and today both centres are thriving. The only problem was that the job came in £15m over budget, all of which had to be met from council coffers. The district auditor began a long investigation and has at last reported.

Notable among the DA's findings are that 10 senior officers working for the city council broke the rules governing accepting hospitality from contractors, in this case Norwest Holst. The 'hospitality' included days on the golf course, go-karting, drinks, lunches and dinners, sometimes with spouses in tow. Among those at the trough were director of corporate resources Paul Brindley, head of asset development Gwyn Hobson and city secretary Mark Winstanley. The DA obtained the details of the freebies from Norwest Holst's records, all 10 officers having forgotten to declare them.

Brindley, Hobson and Winstanley have been suspended by Stoke's chief executive Ita O'Donovan, but the DA's report is vague about who might have been responsible for the huge overspend, which 'diverted funds from front-line services'. It was, apparently, due to three factors. Firstly, £1.7m was accounted for, or rather not accounted for, by that old standby 'miscellaneous expenses'. Then there was a series of 'overspends', amounting to £5.6m. Last but by no means least, nearly £8m was blown on a legal dispute with the project's architects, Levitt Bernstein Associates (LBA).

LBA had warned that Norwest Holst lacked experience of jobs of this scale and had claimed for additional costs caused by this, which the council refused to pay. The council fought the action and lost, and filed a counter-claim, which it also lost. The DA concludes that despite having found 'no evidence that the award of hospitality influenced the council's attitude towards Norwest Holst, it is clear that the close working relationship (of the council) with Norwest Holst did not create an impression of impartiality and did not serve to strengthen relationships between Norwest Holst and LBA'. If only those architects had liked golf! ..."