NEC Users' Group Conference 2021

Peter is the Service Manager for AstraZeneca within their capital projects delivery team at the Macclesfield Campus. As a time-served Project Manager he has seen first-hand how poorly implemented and administered engineering contracts can be hard work to manage, drive the wrong behaviours and ultimately cause poor project outcomes. For the past four years he has been leading the team’s engineering contract management and recently introduced a new NEC4 Framework Contract to better drive collaborative project delivery.

Mr Bahl specialises in planning and programming matters and delay disputes. He is both a chartered civil and building engineer with over 15 years of experience working in a consulting, contracting and claims environment. He brings with him the core skills in establishing, maintaining and reviewing project control structures and techniques gained from working on multi-billion value civil engineering and building projects both in the UK and overseas. Mr Bahl has extensive site-based construction experience managing building and civil engineering schemes as well as providing a specialist planning role on some of the largest infrastructure projects for a leading contractor. His work covers all facets of the built environment and his domestic and international experience has included both the private and public sector together with the involvement in several PPP/PFI projects. These projects have been in building (new build, maintenance and refurbishment), commercial (financial services, data centre and office fit-out) and infrastructure (rail, airports, power, utilities and highways). As a forensic planning specialist he is experienced in prospective and retrospective delay analysis techniques and the production of supporting tablature and written reports as part of an expert submission. He has been instructed as a delay expert on a number of occasions, with experience in producing written reports and under cross-examination. In addition, he has been retained by a number of contractors to prepare extension of time applications and by clients to assess claims submitted. Mr Bahl is recognized in ‘Who’s Who Legal Construction Expert Witnesses 2020’ and ‘Who’s Who Legal Consulting Experts 2020’ as a ‘future leader’, for his “excellent performance both in his written presentation and under cross-examination” and for his “diligence and persuasiveness”.

In recent years Matt has been responsible for policy development for the Cabinet Office's Outsourcing Programme. The team is reforming how the Government makes decisions about whether, and how, to outsource public services so that value for money is maximised, continuity of services is ensured, and high quality services are delivered. Before that he spent a decade in HM Treasury, where he focussed on infrastructure investment, public spending control, and the financial services sector.

Nicholas Gould is a partner in the specialist construction, engineering and energy lawyers Fenwick Elliott LLP, where he conducts a mix of international dispute resolution and non-contentious work. He is a solicitor-advocate, chartered surveyor, accredited adjudicator and CEDR lead mediator. He sits as arbitrator and on dispute boards. He acts for contractors, employers and governments in the building, construction, engineering, infrastructure, transport, energy, oil and gas, and process engineering sectors. Nicholas is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London and Vice President of the ICC’s Arbitration Commission. He is President Elect of the DRBF and past Chairman of the Society of Construction Law.

Andy has over 40 years of post-graduate experience, the majority of which involved dams, tunnels and water projects. He has particular experience in construction management, contract law, claims adjudication and large-scale engineering projects, and now practices as an independent dispute resolution practitioner. Andy has been intimately involved in some of southern Africa's most prestigious projects, playing leading roles on the Berg River Dam, Thune Dam in Botswana, the VRESAP pipeline, the Durban Harbour Tunnel, and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (the 185m high Katse Dam, the 45km long Transfer Tunnel, the 36 Km long Mohale Tunnel and the Matsoku Weir and Tunnel of Phase 1B). He has been involved in numerous disputes, either as a DB member or as the engineer; as well as adjudicator, mediator or arbitrator. He is a Registered Professional Engineer (RSA), a Fellow of the South African Institute of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), a Fellow of the Association of Arbitrators, and is the immediate Past-President of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation.

He is a member of the ICE-SA NEC list of adjudicators, the FIDIC President’s list of approved dispute adjudicators, as well as the SAlCE and CESA Presidents’ lists of mediators, arbitrators and adjudicators. He was the recipient of the DRBF 2019 Al Mathews Award for dispute board excellence

Ian Hastings is Head of Procurement Services at the SKA Observatory, a newly established intergovernmental organisation headquartered at Jodrell Bank in the UK. Winner of multiple Procurement awards and a CIPS Fellow, Ian is an experienced procurement expert with a track-record of starting-up successful procurement functions from scratch and developing workable procurement strategies, often for large, complex international engineering projects with demanding stakeholders. Ian’s procurement career expands over several industries including aerospace, defence, construction, and science administration. Ian is also a lifelong cyclist and still gets out on his bike around the lovely Cheshire lanes most weekends.

Linda was appointed CEO in October 2016 where she embarked on a programme to create a modern professional body, the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management and to re-position workplace and facilities management as a value-creating profession. Linda joined the former British Institute of Facilities Management in April 2007 where she delivered an educational strategy that enabled the Institute to become a regulated Awarding Organisation. Working with the sector, she went on to lead the Institute’s work to develop professional vocational qualifications in facilities management, which are now accredited and delivered internationally. She spearheaded the development of Professional Standards for facilities management which are now embedded by employers in the recruitment, development and management of professionals in the UK and beyond. IWFM provides value to a membership community of around 14,000 and to the sector more widely. Its vision is to be the trusted voice of a distinct profession recognised, beyond the built environment, for its ability to enable people to transform organisations and their performance.

Rob is a Partner at International Law Firm Osborne Clarke, he heads the Construction and Engineering Disputes & Risk practice and leads the Infrastructure Sector team. He is consistently ranked in legal directories as a leader in the field with particular expertise in the NEC form of contract with additional comments this year including "noted for his proficiency in disputes relating to PFI projects and energy developments" Legal 500 2020 "decades of experience of advising on complex contentious construction and infrastructure matters" Chambers & Partners 2020. He has been involved in many of the biggest UK infrastructure let under the NEC form of contract (from NEC2 to NEC4) in recent years including London Olympics 2012, HS1 and HS2, Heathrow T5, Cross Rail, Thames Tideway and many more. From an international perspective Rob has worked on projects across Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia, Africa, Australia and South America on a diverse range of infrastructure from roads and railways to oil and gas pipelines and hospitals. Known for his innovative approaches to risk management and disputes resolution he is a Chartered Arbitrator and adjudicator on a number of UK and International panels. He regularly writes on practical application and use of the NEC as well as having co-authored a number of books, including The Expert Witness in Construction, Global Construction Success, International Construction Contract Law and Law for Construction Professionals. He has been a senior examiner for both the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the R.I.C.S.

David specialises in the procurement and delivery of works and services using the NEC forms of contract. With over thirty years of experience, David has a proven record in delivering complex projects with multiple stakeholders in both the public and private sector. David’s experience with the NEC suite of contracts extends over a fifteen-year period acting as Employer, NEC Project Manager and Contractor. In 2014 David was named ‘NEC Project Manager of the Year’ at the inaugural NEC awards.
As well as providing NEC3/4 consultancy services David delivers the ECC Project Manager and Supervisor Accreditation programmes for the NEC and provides training for in-house clients and public courses. He is an enthusiastic and engaging tutor who actively encourages and facilitates participation by delegates during training and workshop sessions.

Sean Kennelly FRICS FCIArb LLM from Palm Commercial Services Ltd. Sean is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and is appointed as NEC3/NEC4 consultant on various projects in Oil & Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Nuclear, Civils, New Housing and HS2. Palm currently supports projects in Europe, Dubai, Australia and Israel.

Ir LAM Sai-hung was appointed the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) in October 2018.
Ir LAM graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong in 1983. He is a fellow member of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the China Hong Kong Railway Institution.
Ir LAM joined the Government as an Assistant Engineer in 1986. He was promoted to Chief Engineer in 2009, to Government Engineer in 2012, and to Principal Government Engineer in 2014. He was the Project Manager of the Hong Kong Island and Islands Development Office in the Civil Engineering and Development Department from June 2015 to August 2016. He was the Director of Civil Engineering and Development from September 2016 to October 2018 before his appointment as the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works).

John Richardson is Head of Innovation at SGN and is the current Chair of Pipeline Industries Guild - Scottish Branch, and has experience of negotiating and delivering NEC projects within the Oil & Gas, Petrochemical and Pharmaceutical industries.

Bridget Rosewell is an experienced director, policy maker and economist, with a track record in advising public and private sector clients on key strategic issues. She has worked extensively on cities, infrastructure and finance, advising on projects in road and rail and on major property developments and regeneration. Bridget has been a member of Commissions looking at the future of public services, city finance, the North East economy, the City Growth Commission and the London Infrastructure Commission. She has also served as Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater London Authority (2002 to 2012) and her book, ‘Reinventing London’, was published in 2014.
Bridget lives in the East Midlands and is Chair of Atom Bank, based in Durham. She is also founder and Senior Advisor of Volterra Partners and Chair of the M6 Toll Road. She was appointed CBE in December 2018 and is also a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Rachel Skinner is the 156th President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and is an Executive Director (Transport) at WSP. She is a Patron of Women in Transport (a not-for-profit) having been one of its founding board members since 2005. She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a chartered engineer and a chartered transport planner. Rachel chairs the Carbon stream of the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) and was recently invited to join the external expert panel established to support the UK Department for Transport’s Acceleration Unit that is focused on a faster, better and greener recovery beyond COVID-19. She served two years as an Infrastructure Commissioner for Scotland from late 2018. In 2016, Rachel was listed as one of The Telegraph’s inaugural UK Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering; in 2017 she was named the Most Distinguished Winner and Best Woman Civil Engineer at the Women in Civil Engineering Awards, and in 2019 she was confirmed by the Financial Times as one of the UK’s Top 100 Women in Engineering. Rachel has authored, scripted and hosted publications and films on topics including “Shaping Zero” about net zero carbon for infrastructure, “Making Better Places” on place-making and future mobility, and before that about digital technology and its potential for infrastructure, industry innovation and collaboration. She is regularly invited to give keynote conference presentations and to chair international and national industry events. Rachel is involved with strategic projects for clients across the public and private sectors, including leadership of a growing portfolio of future mobility projects in the UK and overseas.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan was appointed as the UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency on 7 November 2020. Previously Anne-Marie was the Secretary of State for International Development from February to September 2020. She was Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 17 December 2019 to 13 February 2020, and Minister for Defence Procurement from 27 July 2019 to 16 December 2019. Anne-Marie was first elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the Berwick-upon-Tweed constituency at the 2015 general election. A chartered accountant by trade, Anne-Marie sat on the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee from July 2015 to May 2017 and December 2018 to July 2019. She has previously served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence. As an MP, she has campaigned with colleagues for greater autism awareness and has focused on the Armed Forces Covenant. Her wider interests involve spending time with her family, making the most of the incredible landscape her vast and varied constituency affords and putting her passion for singing to good use by taking part in Singing for Syrians concerts in Westminster.

Patrick is an adjudicator and consultant specialising in all forms of construction and service contracts. He advises clients on disputes and contract issues in construction and engineering. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer, an Accredited Mediator and an Adjudicator for disputes under construction contracts. Patrick is on the panels of adjudicators of ACE, CIArb, CIC, IChemE, ICE and TeCSA. He is also on the ICE's Register of Mediators/Conciliators. He delivers a range of training courses in the areas of standard form contracts (NEC, ACE, JCT), PFI contracts, contract law and commercial practice. He is a tutor for the NEC4 and NEC3 Project Manager Accreditation Programmes.

John is a senior commercial and procurement professional, chartered with extensive construction experience. He is the upcoming NEC Users’ Group Chair and is currently responsible for the strategic delivery of multi-billion-pound commercial agreements in Crown Commercial Service (CCS) supporting Government departments in delivering their construction programmes and is pioneering a collaborative working approach with industry aiming to improve sector performance achieving a fair balance between clients, contractors and subcontractors. Outside of CCS, John has supported Dame Judith Hackitt and her Industry Safety Steering Group (ISSG) in support of implementing her recommendations following the Grenfell tragedy. He played a critical role in the production, and now implementation, of the Construction Playbook on behalf of Government, worked with the NEC on the development of the Government Boilerplate conditions and is a Government Construction Board Member as an advisor on construction procurement and trends in the industry. John is also a Fellow of RICS: an honoured class of membership awarded on the basis of individual achievement within the profession

Construction consultant and Solicitor Advocate with 30 years of varied experience in advising on construction and engineering projects and dispute resolution in the UK and Hong Kong.