3 May 2012

Costain has become the first construction company in the UK to achieve BS11000 status.

Being awarded the British Standard for Collaborative Business Relationship Management Systems, means that an organisation has demonstrated that it accurately assesses both itself and potential partners in terms not just of technical attributes but cultural ‘fit’.

Costain’s longstanding ‘team player’ approach to doing business with companies made it an ideal candidate for the standard, which was only introduced in autumn 2010.

The Company decided to adopt BS11000 partly because of its increasing network of relationships with major clients and supply partners and partly because it realised that the new standard chimed closely with the Choosing Costain strategy, said Business Improvement Director, Tony Blanch.

“We already achieve 80-85% of BS11000; it’s embedded in the culture,” said Tony who, together with Business Improvement Manager, David Sanders, oversaw the process.

The award “demonstrates to clients that an independent third party agrees that we do what we say we’ll do when it comes to collaborative business relationships”.

Assessors from BSi visited three locations to check that Costain met the necessary requirements.

At Maidenhead they examined how Costain looked at collaborative opportunities and checked that the necessary processes were in place. They then visited the recently-completed Bidston Moss Viaduct strengthening project to assess how Costain had managed relationships with its partners there. Finally, they put the Reading Station modernisation job under the microscope, looking at Costain’s relationships with structural steel provider Bourne Steel and cladding specialist Lakesmere.

The BS11000 certificate is due to be formally presented to Costain at the House of Lords in mid-May.

 

Ends