london heathrow terminal 5

Client: BAA

Date: September 2002 – March 2008

Project Value: £4.3 Billion

SL Timescale: August 2007 – June 2008

Services Provided:

• Project Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Facilities Management (FM)

Project Overview:
The world’s busiest international airport is one of the country’s most important assets. Heathrow employs around 72,000 people directly with a further 100,000 ancillary jobs across the country.

As the UK’s only ‘hub’ airport, providing a gateway to the global economy, Heathrow accommodates some 90 airlines, flying to over 180 destinations in over 90 countries. Yet today, Heathrow is at 99% of its permitted runway capacity, making it vulnerable to foreign competition.

British Airport Authorities (BAA), owners of Heathrow and a further 8 UK and European airports, has a vision for the future that will ensure Heathrow remains the leading international airport for many years to come.

Terminal 5, represented BAA’s first steps towards a complete transformation of Heathrow and the initial phase of the wider, major project to completely renovate the Central Terminal Area (CTA). The design is intended to give passengers a streamlined journey through the airport by reducing the time spent queuing, walking and waiting, so enabling passengers to enjoy their journey with world class shopping and eating while enjoying a panoramic view of London.

The new terminal handles 30 million passengers every year, easing congestion by providing much needed terminal capacity and allowing use of existing runways to be maximised.

BAA’s main client, British Airways (BA) has transferred its entire operation, previously split between Terminals 1 and 4, to Terminal 5. This has allowed BAA to address the refurbishment needs of the four remaining terminals.

One of Europe’s largest construction projects, it actually consists of 16 major projects and over 147 sub-projects resulting in a hugely complex programme of works.

As well as the main terminal, the project also included two further satellite buildings the last of which will be completed in 2011. The immense size of the project was far reaching - a new air traffic control tower, 60 aircraft stands, a 4,000 space multi-storey car park, a 600-bed hotel. Furthermore, extensions to the Piccadilly Line and Heathrow Express services, the creation of a new spur road from the M25, boring of 13 km’s of tunnel and the diversion of two rivers.

Delivery:
BAA engaged Schofield Lothian to ensure that all BAA terminal facilities (T5A and T5B) were completed and operationally fit for use via an allocated budget of £2.1 million.

Managing a team of 20 Furniture, Fixture and Equipment (FF&E) team members, we identified and implemented all FF&E requirements along with arranging and maintaining a reporting tool indicating progress and issues. We established a forum for escalation and resolution of team issues by ensuring all stakeholders were informed of progress and non-performance as well as proposed mitigation actions.

Our team ensured facility delivery by providing the coordinated prioritisation requirement for operational and advanced proving trials. In addition we managed an extensive stakeholder interface including security, baggage, Customs, facilities, retail, trade unions, the Metropolitan Police, Immigration, London Borough of Hillingdon’s Port Health and Occupational Health. Finally, we introduced a sign off process for all final assets along with managing snagging and close out.

Schofield Lothian oversaw all moves for the remaining compound closures while facilitating the duties carried out by the FM team and issuing communications to operatives and Trade Unions. We also attended weekly operations meetings, creating a progress update for T5’s ‘Build’ site and logistics division, along with managing and issuing a weekly KPI suite to the Head of Logistics.

Benefit to the client:
This major project required the Schofield Lothian team to digest a wide range of subject matter, enabling them to plan, organise and prioritise workloads effectively. Our ability to move easily from one area of expertise to another was highly valued by BAA who required strong management that could provide clear direction on such a complex project. With a multitude of stakeholders' expectations and needs to be managed, BAA relied on our strong communication and management skills.

If you would like to find out more about this project, then please contact us.