Masterclass…

Masterclass

Terminal 5 at London Heathrow is ready for business.  That’s ready on time and ready on budget, thanks to a unique and partnering agreement between BAA and constructor Laing O’Rourke.

Described as ‘the template for the future of construction’, the ground-breaking ‘T5 agreement’ has been a masterclass in efficient procurement.  It replaced strife with harmony, confrontation with co-operation.  Project teams worked together on and off site, knowledge was pooled, data were shared and new construction techniques were pioneered.

The result is stunning: a fabulous new facility that will transform the experience of millions of business and leisure travellers.  And one which could be the forerunner of a new and better way of delivering major infrastructure projects all over the world.

The day after BAA and Laing O’Rourke ran this advert in the Times, Terminal 5 opened . The rest, as they say, is history; embarrassing history, maybe, but history nonetheless.

As my dad used to say ‘Never count your chickens until they’re hatched.’  Or in the case of modern aviation ‘Don’t brag until you’ve sent your passengers home with their bags’. Now that is a lesson in Masterclass.