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An interview with...

Alan Banks, Senior Manager, Visteon

Tight timescales can sometimes result in snap decisions and extra costs, adding to the stress of your relocation project. For Visteon, a 6-week programme could have meant some costly mistakes. But by keeping everybody in the loop, informed decisions could be made quickly and confidently. And costs never got out of control.

We asked Alan how Visteon kept everything on track when time was of the essence.

What prompted the move?

Visteon had excess capacity at our previous facility for some time and had actively been investigating options for a more efficient office solution, including sub-leasing and relocation. We became aware of the new facility in Chelmsford, which fitted our space requirements, and decided it was an appropriate time to implement the move.

What were some of the biggest challenges of the project?

The biggest challenge for the project team was the very compressed timing. We signed the lease, gained access to the new property and issued Morgan Lovell with a Letter of Intent on 6th May 2009. We had to move in on 22nd June 2009. In total the whole project was implemented in 6 weeks.

What advice would you give someone starting an office relocation project?

Clearly define what it is that you are aiming to achieve in the relocation and get internal agreement by all parties.

  • Create a formal specification which can be used for quote purposes.
  • Understand what constraints you have – timing, existing / new building, budget, resources.
  • Form a strong core team with good access to senior management to allow you to get sign off in a timely manner.
  • Make the right choice of design and fit out company – ensure you are confident they understand your company, the brief, and have confidence in their team to effectively work with you.

What things would you have done differently?

In fact there are no major things which we would choose to have done differently – the very tight timing constraints forced us to stay on track and focused us to make the required decisions very quickly.

The tight timing incurred some additional cost through premium-time working for contractors.

How did you come up with the design ideas?

We knew from the start of the project that we had a challenge ahead of us to ensure that our employees did not feel the move from our existing office to the new one was a step down.

We needed to ensure that:

  • The fit out implementation was to a high standard,
  • The layout accommodated our 360 people in the compact 31,775 sq ft without leaving them feeling like they worked in cramped conditions,
  • They would feel proud of their workspace,
  • We created a high impact area where people could gather to chat and relax away from their working area.

Did you try to change the company culture / way of working through this project?

In moving to the new facility, Visteon wanted employees to have a greater feeling of working in a community. Working with a smaller building which gave each employee a smaller ‘personal space’, this was a challenge.

We have however found that the design of the furniture chosen (120 degree and wave desks) and the layout adopted has fostered a close-knit community without suffering the downsides of a smaller footprint.

As a company designing and developing automotive components, Visteon has a range of functions which had to be accommodated into the new facility. These include CAD design, project management of programs with team members around the globe, customer meetings and lab-based component construction and testing. This required us to develop a sophisticated flexible office interior which allows us to meet in small and large teams, conference call with remote teams, accommodate a high level of IT capability, and incorporate a lab including mechanical workshop and accurate component measurement.

What were some of the design ideas that really worked?

The design and layout of the cafeteria seating area works very well. It is configured so that we have zoned seating – café style chairs and tables, soft seating chairs and tables, an upholstered bench seat and a high seating bar with stools.

This area is available during eating times and is also used as an informal meeting area or just somewhere to meet, have a coffee or catch up on the news watching the wall-mounted TV.

The retractable screen and projector also allows this space to be used as a large meeting area for 120 people when we want to hold gatherings for all employees.

Our need for meeting space is supported with multiple meeting rooms: formal bookable conference rooms, walk-up conference rooms and informal desk meeting areas including 2 pods.

What took longer than expected?

I cannot identify anything in the original brief which took longer than initially planned. Of course there were some elements of the building which were not available at move-in date (e.g. entrance gates) but that was due to the late kick-off of these elements on a short timeframe project.

What went faster than expected?

The implementation of the personnel move went quicker than expected. We had 1400 personal crates delivered to our old facility and by 11 am on the first day in the new facility we had unpacked, leaving just the remaining crates to be delivered that afternoon.

The speed of this move was a credit to all involved both on the removal company side (organised by Morgan Lovell) and the employees making the move.

How did you go about choosing a design and build company to help you with this project?

We market tested the design and build contract, having created a detailed brief of exactly what we required. This allowed us to:

  • compare the suggestions from various suppliers
  • evaluate their understanding of our brief,
  • evaluate their understanding of Visteon’s needs,
  • evaluate flair demonstrated in initial designs, and
  • get an impression of which company we thought we could work with most effectively.

This process worked well to allow us to choose the successful design and build company who we then worked with on the detail to ensure we got exactly what we wanted.

Did you involve employees in the design process? If so, how?

Unfortunately due to the very limited time available we were unable to involve employees in as much detail of the design as we would have liked.

We did however take the opportunity to keep employees informed of the progress being made on the design development and set up an area in our old facility to show layout, samples of furniture and colours of fabrics and tiles. This helped employees feel part of the process.

Describe your experience when your project moved on site

When it came to moving from the design phase to implementation on site, Visteon were impressed with Morgan Lovell’s on site project management, starting with the level of protection of base build structure through to the attention to detail in the snagging phase.

The site manager performed his role particularly well – managing the customer expectation at various levels in our organisation, while also ensuring that all the trades on site worked to the required schedule and quality standards. Nothing seemed to be too much trouble and there was always a way to accommodate minor changes even though the timing was very tough.

How did you keep track of the costs during the project?

We ran a robust cost tracking process with Morgan Lovell Finance where, on a regular basis, a cost report was consolidated showing all elements of work with any revisions from the last report. Regular meetings were held to review the costs both by phone and on site.

Any changes to the specification of the work was costed and communicated to Visteon and a decision was made to approve, reject or evaluate further.

This process proved to be very robust and ensured that Visteon knew very well, as the project developed, what the costs were.

How did you keep senior management informed throughout the project?

The Visteon Core team had very good access to our Senior Management and as the project progressed there were both formal and informal reviews set up internally and with Morgan Lovell.

The tight timing of the project meant that decisions had to be made and approved quickly and where this added some pressure, it achieved the results very successfully.

Was sustainability important to you on this project? If so, how did you incorporate them into the office design?

Sustainability was not a cornerstone driving force behind this project – having said that we did take every opportunity to implement green policies in the installation of the building.

We have used low energy and LED bulbs and have implemented a green travel policy with an organised lift sharing scheme, a large cycle shed and 5 showers. A cycle-to-work scheme has been adopted to support employees buying bikes to cycle to work on.

How have staff reacted to the new space?

The reaction from employees to the new space has been extremely positive. In the first few days after moving in there were comments on how smoothly the move had occurred and how pleasant the build was to ‘live’ in.

What was the best moment during the project?

The best moment was probably the successful start up on Monday 22nd June. 360 employees each able to work at their new desks, packing crates removed and with IT and phone links all operational.

Got questions of your own?

If you have more questions about our clients’ offices, or want to be interviewed yourself, our team would love to hear from you – 0800 028 0945.

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