Anthony Joubert from La Chapelle Heulin, France has been named Construction Manager of the Year by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), for the £10.5million development of Liberty Wharf in Jersey.

French national Anthony exploited his European expertise with huge success on this project. He not only managed to chair project team meetings in two different languages, but even more admirably generated the £3.5m of budget savings demanded by the client through seeking out specialist solutions.

Chris Blythe CIOB Chief Executive said: "Even for the most experienced manager to win CMYA is a remarkable achievement. What makes this year’s winner so special is that this was Anthony's first construction manager job. He showed great determination to give the client what they wanted with the minimum of fuss, an enviable ability to deal with people at all levels, and a natural instinct for risk management. His innovative strategies and partnering approach produced two high-quality buildings on time and to budget."

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Anthony commented: "Good team spirit was essential for a hard working and productive site. In that respect we organised regular social functions to engender good morale, which also helped integrate the French members into the team. We had no industrial relation matters throughout the duration of the project, and not a single reportable incident."

On 45 square miles of land steeped in history and on the same site that once housed the Island's abattoir, Liberation Place and Liberation Station now mark the beginning of a new space for Jersey. Flanked at the other end by Liberation Square, the land in between is being developed to provide a 'Covent Garden'-type experience with café culture, restaurants and boutique type retailers.

The first phase of this redevelopment was Liberty Wharf which incorporated a new visitor information and transportation tourism centre. Anthony who works for Camerons, a Chartered Building Company, took charge of the project from conception through to completion.

During the construction process Anthony sought out specialist solutions to ensure the project was delivered on time and within budget. An independent facade consultant was called in to review the design work and reduce the risk to the project. The European cladding and scaffold system allowed the facade to be constructed on time and within the critical path, with the upgrade incorporated during the onsite works. He also employed ground-penetrating radar which made a saving of £250,000 and 6 weeks on the programme.

(CD/JM)