Wates Construction Transforms Pre-construction with Access ConQuest Partnership

Wates Construction is the largest arm of the Wates Group, one of the UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance companies. Wates Construction delivers large and complex projects across the education, healthcare, residential and commercial sectors across the UK.

The Wates Construction team had a very clear understanding of the business problems that needed to be overcome, and looked for a partner who could work collaboratively to not just introduce new technology but to guide the Wates Construction team towards futureproofing their pre-construction operations.  

After choosing to work with Access Construction, the Access team worked closely with Wates Construction to ensure Access ConQuest worked towards solving their specific challenges.  

“We're experts in building, we're not experts in cloud computing, and Access stood out as a partner that was very willing to listen and understand our requirements, work with us, and adapt their systems and their technology to accommodate our very specific needs.” 

Steff Battle, MD, Wates Construction 

The team articulated a range of ‘must have’ features, alongside complimentary functionality which would enable further benefits for the long-term. These included:  

A system which enabled multiple user access in multiple locations simultaneously to allow for remote working and enhanced collaboration – particularly as cross-regional projects were coming to the fore.  

The ability to lock projects, make projects read-only and allow project access controls to administrators.  

An estimating tool that also handled subcontractor enquiries and quotations. This included the ability to send multiple enquiries to multiple suppliers in a single transaction, something that had been completed manually previously, and for the system to be able to receive multiple quotes from multiple suppliers and assign them to the appropriate project.  

The core business objective provided by Wates Construction was to save over a million pounds per year for the first two years post-implementation. This would be achieved through time saved managing the subcontractor process, significantly increasing the accuracy of estimating and introducing a consistent approach to estimating. 

Access Construction worked closely with Wates Construction to ensure they could completely fulfil the ‘must haves’ and provide a roadmap for a long-term partnership. This included new developments within the ConQuest system which led to the launch of Access ConQuest 7. 

Wates Construction needed a smooth implementation and adoption of the Access ConQuest system to help achieve their business objectives. For this large implementation across multiple regions, an implementation plan was created and agreed by both parties. This included:  

A group of ‘superusers’ which represented each geographical region, ensuring that a deeper level of training and understanding of the pricing process and system would be implemented and adopted as the new way of working. This involved: 

• User scenario testing 
• Access for users to practice in a test environment using historical information 
• Traditional classroom training  
• ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions  
• Access trainer support calls which were recorded for the wider group to refer to 
• A series of ‘little and often’ check-in calls  
• An estimators Teams channel to share ideas and tips.  

A full pilot on a live bid was also managed and monitored throughout, to test not only the system build, but the effectiveness of the training as well as ensuring the new ways of working could be fully adopted.  

The implementation project was completed on-time and to-budget, and Wates Construction are now using the new process and system across regional teams. Access Construction has stepped forward to provide continued support, including additional training sessions for new starters, provision of supporting guides, and a dedicated Customer Success Manager.  

“Every region has got a team that are absolutely embracing the system and they're sharing that on an ongoing basis so that by the end of 2024, every single new project will be using Access ConQuest, which is quite an achievement in a 12-month roll-out process.” 

Steff Battle, MD, Wates Construction 

Access ConQuest popular ‘Online Enquiries’ module, which handles bids from subcontractors and suppliers, was particularly vital to Wates Construction’s requirements.  

Online Enquiries allows estimators to easily package, send and track all enquiry documents for subcontractor and supplier enquiries. Subcontractors can then view documents easily with no password input. Over 100,000 enquiries are sent to over 50,000 subcontractors every month via this system across Access ConQuest customers. 

“The benefits of using online enquiries in the ConQuest system is that there can be one location for an up-to-date list of subcontractors. We're always up-to-date with the correct emails and contact details to send to people. We can see (the subcontractors) the documents have been sent to, if they've seen the e-mail and if they intend to return a quotation. It puts everything in one place and makes it quite simple.” 

Ben Goodwin, Estimator, Wates Construction 

Subcontractor management within Access ConQuest has also improved relationships with subcontractors within Wates Construction. Clarity on enquiries, tracking of responses and improved communication between Wates Construction and their trades has meant a significantly positive move in relationships with suppliers. 

“Our subcontractors are loving Access Conquest, it's making life much more efficient for them. They're able to price and return their tenders much more effectively and within a time frame.” 

Steff Battle, MD, Wates Construction 

“One of the problems we were trying to solve was the fact that we were exposed to significant time and cost risk during pre-construction. It was not uncommon for projects to be delayed and take twice as long to get to contract as we planned. Using Access Conquest is helping us to get a grip of that risk, reduce the time taken to contract and make us much more effective, enable us to make the right decision for the project rather than reactive decisions when we're late.” 

Steff Battle, MD, Wates Construction 

Access ConQuest suited Wates Construction’s need for an estimating system which fits the dynamic economic and construction landscape which demands a responsive approach, including:  

• The ability to update supply chain, materials and labour cost data in real-time 
• The ability to support adjustments based on inflation  
• Controls for revisioning quotes 
• The ability to allow multiple users to collaborate both on individual and multi-regional projects 

The introduction of Access ConQuest now enables Wates Construction to have far better control over their estimating by providing a central repository for pricing across all projects.  

The transition from manual spreadsheet-based estimating to a digital-based approach has also connected the Wates Cost Planning team to pricing data, enabling a much stronger and more defined cost plan per project, giving customers cost certainty much earlier in the bid cycle than previously achieved. This benefit for this has been warmly received by customers. 

For the Wates Construction team, the change was not only the application of a new technology, but it was also a change in process, operational procedure, in fact all aspects of estimating.  

Overall, the partnership has been fruitful for both parties, and Wates Construction have agreed to help develop and test new features within Access ConQuest as an early adopter.  

When the Wates team were ready to explore the market to find the most suitable partner, the Access Construction offering not only fulfilled the criteria, but expanded the thinking of the Wates team as to how the product could be further integrated into other Wates technologies, enabling not just an overall view of the Wates Construction pricing picture, but an expanded view of the whole bid management process.  

“One of the most distinctive things about our relationship with Access is it's a true collaboration. We're listening to each other and we're acting as partners. We're improving our service to our customers and in turn, I think our feedback is improving the product that Access can take to market.” 

Steff Battle, MD, Wates Construction 

The partnership has been nominated for 'Most Innovative Partnership' award at the Building Innovation Awards 2024 and ‘Collaboration Project of the Year’ at the Construction Computing Awards 2024.