Planning Manager Emma Garner joins the Manchester-based construction consultancy for her ability to see beyond the construction site.
Emma, who joins with 20 years planning experience, knows the challenges of the current construction environment and will be using her strong ground-up knowledge of how to take programmes from excavation and foundations to build and fit out to deliver projects successfully.
“If more construction projects are to reach completion on time and on budget, construction needs a different approach to planning management from a new breed of planning manager”, says Walker Sime’s Director of Quantity Surveying, Mark Bond. “With the appointment of Emma, the company has a planning manager who “sees beyond the construction site”.
Emma will be reviewing project programmes, managing change and other programme risks to mitigate delays and minimise any impact on the completion date. Her ability to anticipate the logistics of moving materials through a busy city, or the impact of the current shortage of labour and materials will feed into her work helping to create a realistic programme for each project.
“I feel the industry has reached a point where there’s often a disconnect between what the client requires and the corporate standards of the construction consultant,” explains Emma. “There’s a danger we stop listening to client needs. I am delighted to be part of an organisation where those needs are where they belong – front and centre of the relationship.”
Emma is also keen to use her position to inspire more women into the construction industry. “I have loved my career in construction – I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone,” she explained. “Yet when I initially mentioned doing it 20 years ago, I was told to really think about it—maybe do a degree in geography and see how I felt when I completed it. I feel construction is still undersold in colleges and schools. There’s far more we can do to keep enticing people into this rewarding industry. I’m passionate about ensuring it keeps changing, and that we keep challenging and pushing ourselves”.
On working with Emma, Mark Bond says “Adding her planning expertise to our multidisciplinary service, with everyone working together to make a project a success, creates a really compelling proposition for our clients. Her desire to mentor and bring young people – especially women – into the business makes her a fantastic addition to our team and I’m very excited to be working with her.”