15+ Years with Access ConQuest – A Partnership Built on Efficiency and Innovation
Stepnell, a regional construction contractor, has greatly enhanced their preconstruction and estimating processes across a 15+ year relationship with Access ConQuest.
Business size
Mid-sized
Industry
Contracting
Product
Access ConQuest
Challenge
- Stepnell’s previous estimating system was outdated, causing delays and inefficiencies, with key tasks taking hours or even days to complete.
Approach
- Stepnell adopted Access ConQuest, leveraging the Estimating, Subcontractor Bid Management and 2D/3D Takeoff functions to streamline processes and improve accuracy.
Results
- Time savings of up to 3 days per tender
- Enquiries process reduced from 1.5 days to 2 hours
- Improved project delivery efficiency.
Stepnell, a leading construction contractor in the UK, has built a reputation for delivering complex and large-scale projects across the East Midlands, Central, and South regions.
Specialising in education, healthcare, industrial, and office developments, the business has always prided itself on staying adaptable to market conditions and ahead of the curve.
A key element in this adaptability has been their 15+ year-long relationship with Access ConQuest.
Paul Stokes, Senior Estimator at Stepnell, has used ConQuest to help streamline and improve the company’s estimating and preconstruction workflows.
Over the years, as both the construction industry and ConQuest has evolved, Stepnell reaped increasing benefits from the software.
Paul’s extensive experience with the system highlights the enduring value that ConQuest brings, particularly when used over such a long period of time.
“I’ve been using it since I left school… it’s always been ConQuest for me.”
Paul Stokes, Senior Estimator, Stepnell
The Results At-A-Glance: Stepnell and Access ConQuest
- Time savings of up to 3 days for the estimating team per tender on average
- Enquiries process reduced from 1.5 days to just 2 hours
- Improved collaboration and query handling between estimators and surveyors
- Integrated 2D and 3D takeoff software improved accuracy and efficiency
The Challenge Before ConQuest
Stepnell’s legacy estimating system presented significant inefficiencies, causing delays that hindered productivity. For Paul Stokes, the limitations of the previous system were clear:
"On the old system, you could literally click update and it would take an hour to put the groundworks into the bill. You'd go away, make a cup of tea, have another meeting, and come back to find it just finishing off."
Paul Stokes, Senior Estimator, Stepnell
This inefficiency led Stepnell to explore new solutions that would save time and allow for smoother collaboration across teams.
With an increase in two-stage tendering processes and a diversification of Stepnell’s offerings, including renewable energy initiatives through their subsidiary Step Energy, a more flexible and powerful system became a necessity.
“At the time, ConQuest was streets ahead of everything else… I still don’t think anyone else competes with them.”
Paul Stokes, Senior Estimator, Stepnell
Over the years, as ConQuest continually refined and enhanced its features, Stepnell saw ongoing benefits from a system that evolved alongside their business.
The Headline Benefits of Access ConQuest For Stepnell
The long-term use of Access ConQuest has allowed Stepnell to fine-tune their operations, taking full advantage of every new update and feature.
They transitioned smoothly to ConQuest’s subcontractor bidding module, online enquiries, 2D and 3D takeoff, and integrated modules, making ConQuest an indispensable part of their day-to-day work.
Stepnell enjoys several clear advantages that come with being a long-term user of ConQuest:
- Faster and More Accurate Estimating: Years of experience with the system means they have developed robust and highly efficient processes. The team is now able to estimate faster and more accurately, delivering better results for clients.
- Comprehensive Use of Features: Stepnell makes full use of ConQuest’s capabilities, from building estimates to takeoff and enquiries, allowing them to deliver complex projects efficiently and effectively.
- Time Savings: Access ConQuest has drastically reduced the time spent on tasks such as sending out enquiries and creating bills of quantities. The streamlined process allows the team to focus on delivering higher-quality projects
- Streamlined Collaboration and Transparency: One of the standout benefits of Access ConQuest for Stepnell has been the increased collaboration across their teams, allowing surveyors and estimators to work more closely and efficiently.
“ConQuest saves us about three days’ worth of time per tender, which can then be used in tasks that are more worthwhile to the business.”
Paul Stokes, Senior Estimator, Stepnell
Time Saved With Access ConQuest
For Stepnell, one of the most immediate and impactful benefits of using Access ConQuest has been the significant time savings across their estimating and tendering processes.
Prior to adopting ConQuest, Paul Stokes and his team experienced lengthy delays, with some tasks, such as updating groundworks in the bill, taking over an hour to complete.
This inefficiency often stretched project timelines, creating bottlenecks in the preconstruction phase.
"With Stepnell’s old system, updating key elements of a project could take over an hour. ConQuest now completes those same tasks in under a minute, even for large packages.”
Paul Stokes, Senior Estimator, Stepnell
A New Approach To Subcontractor Enquiries:
One of the standout improvements has been the time saved on the enquiry process.
Previously, it could take up to a day and a half to manually export, organise and upload enquiry documents. This delay often set the project back by two days before initial enquiries were even sent.
Since implementing Access ConQuest’s Online Enquiries module, Stepnell can now drag and drop relevant documents, generate enquiry letters, and create bills in a matter of hours.
“Enquiries are now a two-hour process, instead of a day and a half. It was a no-brainer for the estimating department.”
Paul Stokes, Senior Estimator, Stepnell
These efficiencies don’t just speed up preconstruction; they free up time for the team to get more involved in the overall project. By saving up to 3 days per tender, estimators now have more bandwidth to sit in on project meetings, collaborate more effectively, and focus on delivering better outcomes.
Additionally, Stepnell saves another day post-project award by being able to export documentation with a single click, rather than manually gathering and sorting files.
How Access ConQuest Helps Construction Collaboration
Previously, managing and sharing information between departments was a cumbersome process at Stepnall. Estimators had to manually export data and distribute it to other teams, often causing delays and creating silos of information.
With ConQuest, everything is housed within one integrated system, providing a single source of truth for all team members. The Online Enquiries module has made it easier to communicate with subcontractors, while the 2D/3D Takeoff and Estimating modules allow for seamless collaboration between estimators, project managers, and surveyors.
“Now, post-award, all the information is instantly available to the surveyors, and it’s arranged in whatever format they need.”
Paul Stokes, Senior Estimator, Stepnell
This accessibility promotes greater transparency and fosters teamwork, as all relevant parties can access up-to-date project data without having to request it.
The streamlined processes have also allowed the estimating team to spend less time answering queries from other departments, as everyone can now easily access the data they need. This has improved overall project efficiency and strengthened communication across the business.
Stepnell & ConQuest: Building Together
Stepnell’s long-standing use of Access ConQuest is a testament to the system’s reliability, adaptability, and continuous evolution.
Having used ConQuest for over 15 years, Stepnell has witnessed firsthand the system’s ongoing growth and evolution, benefiting from each new update and feature that further enhances their operations.
ConQuest has become an integral part of their workflow, allowing them to stay agile, save time, and improve collaboration across the business.
Paul Stokes and his team have seen the system evolve to meet the changing demands of the construction industry, and it remains at the core of their estimating process.
For a company that values efficiency and precision, ConQuest has proven to be an essential tool in delivering projects on time and within budget, reinforcing its place as a trusted solution for the future.