Mike Willcox Email & Phone Number

London, United Kingdom

London, England, United Kingdom

Primarily leading 2-Stage, Framework & Negotiated opportunities in the Health (P22/P23), Education, Industrial, Commercial, Residential and Blue-Light Sectors + inaugral GRAHAM Framework Manager for DfE CF21

Dartford, Kent & Cobham, Surrey

The creation of the new WDC - Dartford office presented a challenge in managing ongoing bids whilst building the Pre-Construction Team to necessary levels. Through progressive recruitment of additional personnel, my team developed to circa sixteen, comprising Estimators, Planners, Bid, Design & Building Services Managers; successfully converting bids, primarily in the education & leisure sectors,My role has changed over the past 2-years, from my previous more-traditional Pre-Con Manager role and now covers a diverse variety of Pre-Construction areas, where my 40-years industry experience can bring the greatest benefit, including:- Bid Management: leading teams bidding for inclusion on major Frameworks, such as iESE2 & Gatwick Airport Major Works Framework + specific targeted tenders across sectors including health, education, leisure, commercial, retail, transport etc- Sector Management: I am regional lead for Health & am responsible for generating £25m+ turnover, through P21+ Framework, LIFT, OJEU etc and therefore seek to promote the WDC offer through targeted business development- Submissions Management: I lead the regional Bid Submissions Team and am responsible for ensuring that our bid submissions are of the highest quality, creative / compelling whilst always seeking new & innovative ways in presentation style

I commenced work with Willmott Dixon leading the 2nd Stage of our Bid for the £50m - 2nd Phase of the Colchester Institute Redevelopment; reporting to the Pre-Construction Manager. I also participated in the recruitment of other Pre-Con personnel, including a Senior Design Coordinator for the Colchester scheme. My Key Accountabilities in this role were:- Lead commercial activities with a high degree of acumen;- Effectively manage team members;- Administer departmental document control systems;- Direction project on key technical construction and commercial issues and processes- Manage project risk process- Identify and implement added value throughout the business- Conduct role consistent with the Company's sustainability objectives- Produce project programmes demonstrating sound commercial and technical knowledge and understanding- Support of the company commercial procedures and processes- Compliance with company design management systems and procedures- Ensure adequate checks on project take-offs- Compliance with Pre-Construction & Supply Chain procedures- Wide understanding of technical construction issues- Mentoring teams through the audit procedures

Having been promoted to Principal Design Manager I assumed a Head Office role for the London & Thames Gateway - Private Residential & Commercial Business Unit. Subsequently, following the re-structuring of the overall business, I was transferred to the Southern Home Counties Business Unit based in Basingstoke. In this role I fulfilled the functional leadership and management of the design management resource for projects within the Business Unit, from pre-qualification to completion.My Key Accountabilities in this role were:• Resolution of Client’s brief in conjunction with others leading to the determination of the Employer’s Requirements;• Assessment of Design Risk and monitoring of its mitigation;• Working with other Principal Design Managers to provide a group wide design management service and the delivery of design management solutions across the group;• Setting the design process strategy for all projects and audit progress throughout the life of those projects;• The provision of professional advice with regards to risk / opportunity, design and construction issues;• Ensure that all aspects of the design management procedures were implemented;I was also responsible for the recruitment of Design Management staff for the Business Unit, Personal Development Reviews [PDR] for salient staff and was a member of the Senior Management Team for the Region.

Having been recommended by one of my Clients at Birse - I joined Wates Construction Ltd as Senior Design Manager on the Management Contract for the £75 million Phillimore Square Residential Development in Kensington, London. Described as the most luxurious residential development in London, this scheme comprised 35 high specification apartments, 8 luxury townhouses overlooking a new garden square and 33 apartments for social renting. On this project having developed bespoke Design Management Procedures, I led and managed a team of six Design Management, Building Services and Technical Administrative Staff, responsible for the management of design production and the input of buildability & practicality into the base design of the Client Design Team, ensuring that an adequate level of information was provided to facilitate the procurement of the Package Contracts and the subsequent management of the CDP elements.

Freelance Business Development, Project & Design Management Services

Reporting to the Regional Managing Director I was responsible for providing profitable opportunities focussing on securing negotiated business, fulfilling the role of Client Business / Key Account Manager, with specific responsibility for the successful development of an economic and viable scheme solution that could be delivered in accordance with the given cost, quality and time criteria. My overall aim was to deliver to the business, opportunities that could return circa 3% greater margin, than through more traditional routes.In all instances, I headed the Team established for each opportunity, including external Design Consultants and led the development of the Bid together with any subsequent negotiations, through to handover of the scheme with an established strategy for successful delivery, to the Operations Team following which I remained involved as part of the Principal’s Team.This resulted in the establishment of long-term relationships with many Client, Developer and Professional Teams, where the ability to provide a comprehensive Lump Sum, Design & Build solution, offered specific benefits, particularly in obtaining funding.I was also involved in the development of promotional strategies, events, together with project sheets, bespoke literature and other submission information utilised in creating / maintaining contact with our Client base.With an Engineering background and many years of experience to draw upon, I brought realism and practical knowledge to the traditional Business Development function, enhancing the benefits I was able to offer to any project offering Clients immediate and meaningful advice, which on many occasions, turned previously unviable schemes, into reality and negotiated opportunities for the business.I was a member of the National “Winning the Work” Forum and was also Chair of the Regional Training Forum, which also included the Year-Out and Graduate Development Programme.

As the region was struggling to secure new business, I was asked to switch from Contracts Management and address the manner in which we bid for work. This was achieved by concentrating in 3-key areas:- Develop closer Subcontractor, Supplier and Consultant relationships;- Establish a Regional Team to provide a focussed and dedicated ownership of the tender process;- Close analysis and the capitalisation of value management within every tender;The region had in the past secured most turnover through Trad Single-Stage procurement and I sought to convert this trend to a D&B / Negotiated / Partnered route and a greater level of CDP contribution to tenders, which offered the Client a reduction in cost, whilst delivering increased margin for the business. I therefore changed my Job Title to D&B Manager, which better suited the role I was undertaking, leading a dedicated team who analysed each tender, disseminating the scheme and identifying a strategy to secure the opportunity. This proved very successful, resulting in an improvement in conversion rate from around 1:7/8 to 1:2/3.As a result of my successful track-record with ASDA / Gazeley Properties, I became the Key Account Manager for the South / Midlands on theited ASDA Supply [Partnering] Chain, leading the team that negotiated four successful schemes. This subsequently led to me fulfilling a similar role for J Sainsbury Developments.I also developed a series of Design Management Protocols and was instrumental in establishing and contributing to a regular Regional Newsletter, aimed at improving communication across the business.The successful growth of Design & Build works within the region to a stage when it ultimately represented around 90% of turnover, resulted in the need to make the Design Management role an Operational Function and given my success in establishing lasting Client / Consultant relationships, I was requested by the Group Building MD to take-on the role of Business Development Manager.

Hnd Civil Engineering [Distinction], Structural Timber

'A' Levels, Pure / Applied Mathematics, Physics, Engineering Drawing