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Townsend and Renaudon has featured in The Parliamentary Review, a series of independent publications, which aims to share best practice among policy makers and business leaders.
The following article was published in The Parliamentary Review.
At the end of the Second World War, Townsend and Renaudon was established to serve local communities in the Staffordshire and West Midlands area. The aim was to provide building and construction cost consultancy services for all sectors, including government departments, local authorities, housing associations, public companies and members of the public. The practice prides itself on its unique and longstanding commitment to health and safety. It was in fact one of the first practices to feature construction design management – that is, duties surrounding safety – in its services. Ryszard Kawak, one of three partners, tells The Parliamentary Review about Townsend and Renaudon's history, present and future.
Knowing no boundaries
Although based in Stoke-on-Trent, our work takes us far and wide across the whole of the United Kingdom, including the offshore islands of the Hebrides and the remote island of St Kilda. We also undertake work within a number of European countries, including Germany, France and the Netherlands. Indeed, other projects have taken us as far afield as Africa and to the far reaches of South America, India and Singapore.
Where we excel
The practice is headed by three partners: Jonothan Thornton, Ian Bagnall and myself. We are supported in turn by 18 staff and by the founding partner's son, John Renaudon, in the capacity of a consultant. We have a wealth of experience in all aspects of the building and civil engineering industry, as well as in dispute resolution, expert witness, party wall surveys, project management, project monitoring, insurance assessments, facilities management, building surveying, dilapidations and, more traditionally, quantity surveying, all of which cover the full spectrum of the construction industry.
Other services
As a practice, we also undertake construction design management (CDM) and principal designer duties. We have established an architectural section, which deals with outline and detailed design and development for clients who demand instant access to planning advice and planning strategy. Indeed, over two decades ago, we were one of the first practices to offer CDM services in the country. We now offer the service to all our clients because we feel very strongly about health and safety, the absence of which has been a plague on the construction industry for many years.
From an early stage of each project development, we are keen to get involved with addressing health and safety matters. Initially, we will highlight potential problems and, with the help of the design team, other consultants and the client, either remove the problem or reduce the potential risk. We are strong advocates of the CDM regulations, and our policies form a large part of our in-house training for staff. Ultimately, the issue of health and safety is a high priority in our objective to ensure that contractors and clients understand their obligations throughout the design and construction processes.
Staff's continued professional development
Staff are encouraged to develop their skills and abilities through a day-release university degree course while gaining "in the office" or "on-site" experience. We believe that good education is fundamental to our practice. Continued professional development, in conjunction with regular internal updates and reviews of the goings- on of the construction industry, empowers our staff. More specifically, it empowers them to interrogate and critically examine all the issues when faced with complex and unusual problems. This ability to think outside of the box rather than treating issues at face value is a key characteristic that our staff possess.
We have also facilitated the development of our staff to enable them to achieve chartered status within the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The sound knowledge and expertise gained from this enables them to have the confidence to deal with construction issues and contractual matters.
Client base
The majority of our work comes from repeat business built on long-term relationships. We serve our clients on an individual basis, as each have their own specific needs. Accordingly, we tailor our services to meet their aspirations to ensure that they do not fall foul of the planning and construction minefield.
The formation of the architectural section within the practice has helped us move our clients' projects along quickly and smoothly. This enables us to get involved at the earliest stages of a project, and to highlight any problems that may occur in the design before the scheme gains momentum.
The future
Our future is our staff and our commodity is the service that we provide to our clients. We therefore rely heavily on the ability and experience of our staff, which, through a regime of training, both at university and on the job, will ensure that the demands of our clients are met quickly, effectively and without issue.
Our ability to anticipate the demands of the construction industry and its ever-changing elements allows us to quickly identify niche markets, which we've often secured well before our competitors – doing so afforded our clients insights into the latest developments and trends. Whatever the size, location and nature of the project, we have a team of expert staff who can confidently provide a quality, professional and reliable service.
When all is said and done, however, it's worth remembering something: everything we do and see today in our work is a culmination of hard work from those who have come before us as pioneers – those who laid the foundations and made the practice what it is today. To those people, we owe our gratitude.
The original article is available here.
