Another international field of teams from around the world began the challenge of managing their Global Construction Business, a journey that would ultimately lead to one of them being crowned the Enginuity 2024, and 15th Enginuity Champions!

The ENGINUITY Competition is not designed to be an easy challenge, and is intended to reflect how difficult it can be to run a multinational construction business in the real world. To be successful will require an effective business strategy to identify new work, secure the work in a competitive bidding environment, and then manage jobs progressed profitably, dealing with the many problems that will arise, such as job delays and managing risk. There will be many ups and downs, and excellent leadership and management skills will be needed to deal with adversity, and keep the business growing.

And so to the early action, and over 98% of the teams were able to post positive growth figures in period 5, with a real international feel at the top of the first leaderboard. The early pacesetters, and flying high at the top are the "Stantec Falcons" (Stantec, India) with 1,377 pts, one of 5 Stantec teams, the largest sponsor, in the top 12. A team from India, or Stantec, have never won the Enginuity Competition, but could this be their year form a famous double ? However, the early leaders cannot rest on their laurels with the chasing pack close behind, led by "Pell's Angels" (Pell Frischmann, UK) and "Constructive Chaos" (Arcadis Australia Pacific, Australia) and there are just 44 points separating the top 12 teams going into the second round, and many teams lying in wait should the leading teams slip us.

And a word of caution to the leading teams, and hope for those lower down the leaderboard. The top teams at the end of the first round normally have high workloads after successful bidding, and their infrastructure size then limits their ability to win a high volume of work in period 6, as well as giving them the 'growing pains' of needing lots of additional labour to handle the additional workload. In contrast, those who did not perhaps start too well are in the reverse position, and can improve their forward workload and margin significantly in the second round, providing, of course, they set competitive bids. It should be a very interesting leaderboard again in the next round!

And so to the first of this year's ENGINUITY TWITTER FEEDS :-

• For the first time for a while a University team are taking part, "SiX GoLdZZ" (The University of Manchester, UK), and the students have made an excellent start in 7th place in the first league table. Lets hope their studies are not suffering too much, but the effort is certainly worth it.
  
  
• The Champions from the last two years, Jacobs, are once more well represented with teams from all over the globe. It will take a monumental effort to repeat the success of "briJ" in 2023 and "Babble Royale" in 2022, but "Astra Engineering" (Jacobs, UK) have started well in 11th place, and many other Jacobs' teams lie in waiting not far behind.
  
  
• New to the Competition this year are Carollo Engineers, a US-based environmental engineering firm that specializes in the planning, design, and construction of water and wastewater facilities. They have two teams taking part, "If It Ain’t Broke, FIX It" (Carollo Engineers, United States) and "Carollo Constructors" (Carollo Engineers, United States) and it is the former who have made the best start with 32% growth that has them well placed in 24th.
  
  
• MWH Treatment have been involved in the Competition for many years, but have never qualified for the final, but after some intensive preparation, and 5 teams taking part, hopes are high that this could change this year, and the "MWHT Graduates" (MWH Treatment, UK) have raised hopes further after an excellent start in 6th place.
  
  
• The Enginuity Competition is a stern test of endurance and team collaboration skills, and this will be put to the test in the next period for a number of teams languishing at the wrong end of the table. One of the keys to their recovery will undoubtedly be their ability to secure new work with more competitive bids, and in particular analysing likely rival bidders to ensure that their margins are set low enough to undercut their rivals, but still make a reasonable profit. They will also need to secure as much profit as possible from their jobs in progress, with a lot of emphasis on effective labour scheduling, especially when completing jobs.
  
  

2023 proved to be another turbulent year for the UK. Food and energy prices rose sharply, caused largely by global supply chain disruptions and the effects of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, resulting in a Cost of Living crisis in the UK, and the Bank of England were forced to increase interest rates many times to combat rising inflation, with resulting growth of only around 0.4% in the whole of 2023.
Hopes were growing towards the end of 2023 that 2024 could see some green shoots of recovery, with interest rates reaching their potential peak. However, many observers are sceptical with the upcoming general election, and a likely change of Government expected to prolong the uncertainty for businesses and delay investment, and growth is expected to fall to 0.3% in 2024.

Further afield global real GDP grew by around 2.9 percent in 2023, but is expected to slow to 2.5 percent in 2024, weighed down by high inflation and continued monetary policy tightening. Growth forecasts for 2024 are generally strongest in emerging Asian economies, and weakest in Europe and the US.
The outlook is not helped by the continued impact of the Russia invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel invasion of Palestine in the Middle East, all potentially putting further global pressures on energy prices across the world.

League table at the end of period 5

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Arcadis
Atkins
Hatch
Jacobs
Laing O'Rourke
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann
Stantec
WSP

Just like the real world it simulates, Enginuity is designed to reflect the ups and downs of managing a global construction business, and the growing pains on the journey have to be overcome, and management teams need to adapt and come up with innovative solutions to keep their businesses on the right lines.
This was perfectly highlighted in period 6 as many teams that made substantial gains in period 5, due to winning lots of work, suddenly found period 6 to be more challenging. Carrying a high workload going into period 6, their infrastructure (capital base) restricted them from being able to win much new work, and forward workload and margin KPIs fell. To compound this the extra work that was won in period 5 needed to be progressed, and extra labour (own or subcontract) was required, incurring training costs for own new labour, or subcontract premiums. These all added to the cost base, and gross profit and operating profit to turnover KPIs suffered, and growth rates were largely down for many, with only 44% of the teams posting positive growth figures.

The result of this upheaval was major turbulence in the leaderboard in period 6, with 11 new entries into the top 12, and qualifying places for the final at the end of period 12.
At the top of the table previous high flyers the "Stantec Falcons" (Stantec, India) came down to earth, and it was "HatchGPT" (Hatch, South Africa) who emerged as the new leaders with 1,423 pts after solid 9% growth. Jacobs' teams emerged from the field with large positional gains, with "Powerhouse" (Jacobs, UK/Ireland) moving up 51 places to second, and "Antipodean Pavlovs" (Jacobs, Australia/New Zealand) up 79 places to 3rd, and "Nobles Across the Pond (NAWBL)" (WSP, UK/United States) made an astonishing 108 place rise to move joint 3rd.
After the drama of period 6, it is almost certain that the league table will see lots more changes in the next round as the teams who did not do so well this week are expected to come storming back, and those that faired well will be trying to consoldiate their gains.

And so to the latest ENGINUITY TWITTER FEEDS :-

• Who were the star performers in terms of overall improvement and positional gain this week ?
  In terms of performance the accolade went to "Team Redditch" (Stantec, UK) with a stunning 35% growth that moved them 35 places up the leaderboard.
  In terms of positional gain, and there were many eye catching rises (and falls), "ApexInnovate Solutions" (Jacobs, UK/India/Ireland/SA) took the plaudits with an incredible 121 place rise from 138th to 17th, and demonstrating what can be achieved in one round with an effective set of decisions based upon a sound strategy.
  
  
• Pell Frischmann have once more entered a number of teams, and after several made promising starts in period 5, period 6 brought them back down to earth, but "Pell’s Angels" (Pell Frischmann, UK) are still well placed just outside the top 20, and well ahead of their colleagues, but it is early days and a lot can happen as the management teams adapt and learn from their mistakes.
  
  
• And what of the only student team taking part. "SiX GoLdZZ" (The University of Manchester, UK) made an amazing start in period 5, sitting 7th in the league table, but is the extra pressure no doubt heaped upon them from their studies beginning to take effect as they slipped back after a 2% deterioration, or is this only a blip in the road ? Watch this space to find out.
  
  
• Risks that strike can have a major impact on job profits, and this was the case on a number of jobs in period 6, including contractors that secured the medium sized contract to upgrade Finsbury park tunnel and mains for London Water Services. Unfortunately Hazardous materials found at site, unexpected as they had been highlighted as a low risk, cost around 170k that impacted on the job's profits in the project's first quarter.
  
  
• Looking further down the league table, success can be measured in many ways, including turning things round after an indifferent start. There are many examples of teams that were able to do this, and the aforementioned "Team Redditch" (Stantec, UK) are one that stand out after pulling away from the foot of the table in period 6 with an impressive 35% improvement, giving hope to others who are hoping to do the same.
  
  

With KPI points hard earned it will become increasingly important that the management teams look very carefully at every aspect of their business for potential improvements, and those that are most successful in doing so should prosper the most. Two areas that the teams need particular attention are Marketing strategy and Procurement (rival bidders), which are discussed in more detail below.

Marketing is possibly the area of the business that requires the most thought, as there are numerous strategies that could be adopted. The market trend can only be gauged for one year ahead, and not always accurately, and as marketing departments are expanded, the choices of where to direct the marketing effort are wide ranging, by sector, country and job size. The task is not an easy one, but has a major impact upon procurement options, and the future work undertaken, and ultimately on the long term prosperity of the company.

Another important consideration is that rival bidders do not necessarily stick with the same bidding strategy, and as time goes by they can change their strategy according to market conditions. This makes it imperative that teams keep a close eye on the margins rival bidders are applying, and how they may be changing. Evaluating these strategies could make the key difference between success in securing work, or not. To complicate matters even further there may be UNKNOWN rival bidders, and the only clues to these may be in the ENGINUITY NEWS NETWORK (ENN) for the period.

League table at the end of period 6
Improvements, or otherwise, during period 6

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Arcadis
Atkins
Hatch
Jacobs
Laing O'Rourke
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann
Stantec
WSP

After the turbulence of period 6, it was much more serene for the majority of teams, with 80% posting positive growth figures. However, there was still plenty of movement throughout the league table, with 5 new entries into the top 12, and qualifying places for the Final. Not surprisingly the two major sponsors, Stantec and Jacobs, are well represented with 2 and 4 teams respectively, and Stantec in particular will be keen to keep up their momentum as they chase their inaugural success, but Jacobs will be determined to defend their title, although others could well put a spanner in the works with AtkinsRealis, Parsons, Hatch, MWH Treatement, Arcadis Autralia Pacific and WSP all represented in the leading places in what is already shaping up to be a titanic struggle.

The top of the leaderboard has a real international feel, and for the 3rd consecutive round there are new leaders as "Stan Movers" (Stantec, United States) climbed 6 places to takeover top spot with 1,538 pts. Just 8 points back are the "Fanatics" (AtkinsRealis, India), with "The Mighty Turtles" (Parsons, United States) moving along swimmingly as they climbed 13 places to 3rd, and looking to repeat the 2021 success of Parsons. And what a week for the "Martians" (WSP, UK/Canada), whose impressive 43 place gain catapulted them up to land in 4th. There is still very little between the leading teams with just 70 points separating the top 12, and a large group of teams vying to break into the qualifying places for the final.

And so to the latest ENGINUITY TWITTER FEEDS :-

• Who were the star performers in terms of overall improvement and positional gain this week ?
  Both accolades went to "Stantastic" (Stantec, UK), who more than lived up to their team name with stunning 32% growth that moved them an increadible 102 places up the leaderboard, and into the top 30. It demonstrated what can be achieved in one round with an effective set of decisions based upon a sound strategy.
  
  
• It was back in 2015 that AECOM were the Enginuity Champions with 'Newbee', and they have been trying hard since then to repeat the success. This year they have 7 teams taking part, all from the UK, and the team holding the internal bragging rights at the moment are "MINCAM Co" (AECOM, UK), but it is very competitive amongst them with 5 of the teams separated by just 16 points.
  
  
• Every year the ENGINUITY CRYSTAL BALL tries to predict dark horses in the Competition. One team that has already caught the eye this year is "Infraco Invasion" (Infraco Consulting, UK) If this trend continues they may soon be challenging the leaders, and they are showing the right credentials for being serious contenders for a place in the final.
  
  
• Every week we see examples of the phrase from the famous Billy Ocean song, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going", and one that stood out in period 7 occurred at the foot of the table as the "Almighty Bellevue Defenders" (Jacobs, United States) reversed a previous 17% decline with a massive 26% improvement, which lifted them away from the foot of the table, and raised hopes amongst their stakeholders that better times lie ahead. And with a number of teams at the wrong end of the table recovering well in period 7, only 2 teams are currently below their starting total KPI of 1,000 points, and only just, showing how well the teams are adapting to the challenge of running their virtual construction businesses.
  
  
• AtkinsRealis have 3 teams competing this year from their India region. All of them are in the top 40, and performing extremely well in their quest to become the first AtkinsRealis Champions, and their leading team at the moment in second place are the "Fanatics" (AtkinsRealis, India), moving up 3 places this week from 5th.
  
  

IEWP = SUCCESS

A leading industry think tank have come up with a simple formula for running a successful construction business.

1. IDENTIFY new work
2. EXPAND the infrastructure (capital base) of the company to take on more work
3. WIN new work through competitive bidding
4. PROFITABLE PROGRESS of the jobs won

Another essential part of running a successful business is being able to form an effective Risk Management Strategy to keep the business as profitable as possible. This can take a number of forms, firstly by building sensible risk contingencies into the original bids based upon the likelihood and cost of the risks occurring. Secondly, and just as importantly is mitigating the affects of any risks that strike through targeted investment into risk management companies, using a BIM model if available, and employing the most suitable project managers to jobs in progress. However, even when these mitigating actions are taken, risk can still be costly to job and company profits, and during period 7 problems with hazardous materials found at site affected the modifications to the Little Nerang Dam for Queensland Water in the job's first period, with an estimated risk cost of around 120k before mitigation.

League table at the end of period 7
Improvements, or otherwise, during period 7

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Arcadis
Atkins
Hatch
Jacobs
Laing O'Rourke
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann
Stantec
WSP

As the teams reached the halfway point in the Preliminary Rounds, it is appropriate to reflect on how success can be measured. Teams at the top of the table, and battling for a place in the 12-team final at the end of the Preliminary Rounds will consider their position in the table a measure of how well they are running their business. Teams at the wrong end of the table will now look to success being able to turn round the fortunes of their companies, and this can only be achieved by focusing on the key areas that could improve their growth rates i.e., competitive bidding to secure new work, and managing their jobs in progress as profitably as possible, and close analysis of past performance will be important to prevent past mistakes from reocurring.

Period 8 proved to be a tough quarter for many teams, with 30% posting deteriorating growth figures. Many of the declines were down to teams struggling to win new work, and there were a number of reasons for this. Where there are KNOWN rival bidders, their bidding history is available, and it is possible to assess the margins their rivals have bid with in the past, and formulate an effective bidding strategy to undercut them. However, this is not possible where their are UNKNOWN rival bidders, or even KNOWN rival bidders that are new to the Industry, such as The Crayford Road Group in period 8, who had no bidding history. In this scenario it is much harder to gauge a competitive margin to win work, and margins often have to be cut further to try and mitigate against being undercut.

During period 8 there were just 2 new entries into the top 12, and qualifying places for the Final, but they could prove to be significant ones. The "Antipodean Pavlovs" (Jacobs, Australia/New Zealand) climbed 16 places to joint second to become the currently highest ranked Jacobs' team, and the students are back in the mix after a first-class performance from "SiX GoLdZZ" (The University of Manchester, UK), a 22% improvement that catapulted them up 50 places to 9th. At the very top of the table a Stantec team continues to lead the Competition, but this time it is the vastly experienced "Whatever it takes" (Stantec, Italy), runners up in the last two years, who moved up 4 places to become the fourth consecutive new leaders with 1,698 pts, as previous leaders "Stan Movers" (Stantec, United States) dropped back to joint second. The "Martians" (WSP, UK/Canada) consolidated their period 7 rise up the table to stay in 4th.

As the teams enter the second half of the Preliminary Rounds it is still all to play for before the identity of the 2024 Finalists are revealed, with many teams lying in wait just outside the top 12 should the leading teams slip up.

And so to the latest ENGINUITY TWITTER FEEDS :-

• Who were the star performers in terms of overall improvement and positional gain this week ?
  In terms of performance the accolade went to "Engi-Venturers" (Jacobs, India) with an impressive 31% growth that moved them well away from the foot of the table.
  In terms of positional gain, and there were many eye catching rises (and falls) again, the "Nuclides" (Jacobs, UK) took the plaudits with an incredible 94 place rise from 116th to 22nd, and once more demonstrating what can be achieved in one round with an effective set of decisions based upon a sound strategy.
  
  
• Within the main Competition their are many sponsor battles for internal bragging rights. Laing O'Rourke Australia have been entering teams for many years, and this year they have 3 teams taking part this year. Although they are not high in the table at the moment, in their internal battle it is "All Blues, No Clues" (Laing O'Rourke, Australia) who hold sway at the moment, with "Slay O’Rourke" (Laing O'Rourke, Australia) not too far behind.
  
  
• When the ENGINUITY CRYSTAL BALL picked out "Infraco Invasion" (Infraco Consulting, UK) as potential dark horses at the end of the last round, many thought that the old sage had lost his marbles, but they are not laughing now as his pick moved up another 5 places this week to 16th, and just outside the top 12, and they are showing the right credentials for being serious contenders for a place in the final.
  
  
• It was 4 years ago, in 2020, that Hatch had their last finalist, with "Hatcha la vista", but hopes are high that they could repeat this in 2024 with every one of their teams progressing well, and 3 currently in the top 40, led by the leaders from period 6, "HatchGPT" (Hatch, South Africa).
  
  
• The Enginuity competition is a stern test of resolve, and the ability to recover from setbacks; a real test of character. There are many examples each week of teams who demonstrate this, and in period 8 the "Fireflies" (Stantec, India) grew by 14% that moved them up 23 places, and away from the foot of the table, and the handful of teams who are currently below their starting position back in period 5 will be hoping for a similar reaction in the next round.
  
  

Running a successful construction business requires effective internal decisions to be made, such as bidding competitively to win new work, and progressing jobs as profitably as possible. However, external economic, political and environmental WORLD EVENTS can also impact upon the business. Clues to some of the events, but not necessarly all of them, are reported in the ENGINUITY NEWS NETWORK (ENN) each period, and close examination of this valuable new source may influence the current and future strategy of the business. For example, in period 8 an article in the ENN reported that "US based Caterpillar, a major construction supplier globally, are currently developing a new range of state of the art equipment that will be released within the next 6 months, and it is expected to significantly reduces build costs on jobs progressed for all their global customers. This is good news for construction contractors across the world, in all sectors, many of whom use Caterpillar's equipment, which should help to reduce build costs on jobs progressed, improving profit margins.

League table at the end of period 8
Improvements, or otherwise, during period 8

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Arcadis
Atkins
Hatch
Jacobs
Laing O'Rourke
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann
Stantec
WSP

As the teams entered the second half of the Preliminary Rounds, the problems with UNKNOWN bidders from the previous round were a distant memory for most with encouragingly 90% of them recording positive growth during period 9, driven largely by new contract awards, and there were also 4 new entries into the top 12. The overall standard of the teams taking part was also emphasised with every one of them now above their starting position of 1,000 KPI points back at the beginning of period 5.

At the top of the table the "Fanatics" (AtkinsRealis, India) outperformed many of the teams around them with 19% growth that lifted them from 11th to top spot with 1,924 pts, and they have opened up a 50 point gap to the chasing pack, led by previous leaders "Whatever it takes" (Stantec, Italy). The wisdom of the ENGINUITY CRYSTAL BALL is once more shining out as the old sage's dark horses "Infraco Invasion" (Infraco Consulting, UK) climbed 12 places to 4th, and they are currently the highest placed UK team. Another team new to the top 12 are "The Infra Tribe" (Stantec, India), who also made significant gains as they moved up 18 places to 7th. There are 7 different sponsors represented in the top 12 as it stands, with teams from all corners of the globe in what is turning out to be one of the most competitive Enginuity Competitions since the inaugural one in 2010.

As many teams look to trying to secure a place in the Final, it is worth looking back at the last year's Competition, and what level of KPI growth was needed to qualify for the Final. In 2023 at the end of period 12 a score of 2,055 pts was enough to secure a place in the Final. In average terms this is equivalent to growing by an average of 132 additional KPI points each period, based upon each team starting the Competition at the beginning of period 5 with 1,000 points. Currently the team occupying the last qualification place for the Final, "Enginuity State of Mind" (Jacobs, United States) have averaged 160 points each period so far, indicating that the Competition is unfolding in similar vein to last year, and it is something to bear in mind for the teams hoping to break into the top 12 by the end of the Preliminary Rounds.

Diversifying through Targeted investments can produce benefits to jobs being progressed through reductions in both build costs and risk costs and delays, which can make a real difference to job and company profitability. However, occasionally this can be a risky strategy when the company being invested in is in danger of going bust, and those investing in National Aggregate Plc were warned in period 7 about a 'financial director put on gardening leave', and then in period 8 of the 'threat of administration next period', and in period 9 National Aggregate Plc did indeed go bust, and only 37% of the investment was recovered for those that had continued to invest in the company.

And so to the latest ENGINUITY TWITTER FEEDS :-

• Who were the star performers in terms of overall improvement and positional gain this week ?
  In terms of performance the plaudits went to "AECOMpetent Compadres" (AECOM, UK) with a stunning 46% improvement that shot them 42 places up the table. The most impressive postional gain came from "AtkinsInnoStrive" (AtkinsRealis, India, India) with a 71 place climb from 106th to 35th, and into contention for a place in the final, although they will need to keep up this momentum in period 10.
  
  
• It was a great week for the two Cundall teams taking part, with each improving, and in their own internal battle it is "No fumble Cundall" (Cundall, UK) who lead their challenge, and they are still well placed in 24th, and waiting to pounce should teams above them falter.
  
  
• The Enginuity Crystal Ball has been working extra hard again this week, scanning the league table for signs of another team that are possibly going unnoticed, under the radar so as to speak, but who could be potential finalists. "Boiled Beans" (Jacobs, India) have now caught's its eye, having been in 13th place for 3 of the 5 rounds, and never out of the top 20! Definitely one to watch.
  
  
• Hatch teams always perform well in the Competition, and this year is no exception. The 6 teams taking part are from Canada, India and South Africa, and period 9 saw them all improve considerably, and none more so than the leaders from period 6, "HatchGPT" (Hatch, South Africa) whose 18% improvement enabled them to move back into the top 12.
  
  
• As always we like to cast an eye on the lower reaches of the table, and in period 9 to the relief of their shareholders the "Random Hills Ramblers" (Stantec, United States) recovered from an 8% decline in period 8 to post an eye catching 28% improvement that liftem them away from the foot of the table, and suggesting that their management team had resolved a few internal problems, and perhaps they are now back on an upward trajectory.
  
  

League table at the end of period 9
Improvements, or otherwise, during period 9

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Arcadis
Atkins
Hatch
Jacobs
Laing O'Rourke
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann
Stantec
WSP

At this stage of the Competition you can usually expect a level of stability in the league table, with less movement in and out of the top 12, and so it proved in period 10 with just 2 new entries into the qualifying positions for the final at the three-quarter point in the Preliminary Rounds. Overall it was another good round for many teams, with 70% posting positive growth, and a number of teams at the wrong end of the table rallying well once more. With just 2 Preliminary Rounds to go before the finalists are revealed, there is all to play for, with many teams just outside the top 12 still well placed to make their move should the leading teams slip up, and it will be a fascinating finale to the first stage of this year's Competition.

A few teams look to have already all but secured their places in the final, and none more so than the "Fanatics" (AtkinsRealis, India), who held onto top spot with 2,089 pts, but their lead was narrowed to just 22 points as "Whatever it takes" (Stantec, Italy) posted 10% growth to stay in second place. The leading two have now pulled away from the chasing pack, led by two Jacobs' teams, "Powerhouse" (Jacobs, UK/Ireland), up 5 places to 3rd, and the "Antipodean Pavlovs" (Jacobs, Australia/New Zealand) in 4th.
The two new entries into the top 12 were the "BOMBAY ALLIIIBAY SQUAD" (Jacobs, India), up 6 places to 9th, and "Martians" (WSP, UK/Canada), who reignited their bid to conquer all before them as they moved up 5 places to 11th.

A recent report in a leading international construction journal posed the question "What makes a successful construction business ?". The author's answer, backed up by some leading industry experts, was that the essential ingredients are an effective marketing strategy, competitive tendering and successful completion of contracts, but there are many other factors that can make the crucial difference between being a 'successful', and an 'outstandingly successful' business. These included targeted investments, employing the most suitable staff and effective overhead management
Also, increasingly important is the role that an effective risk management policy can play. Take the 18m project in the United Kingdom to build a new multi-screen cinema complex in Newcastle for the Tyne and Wear City Council. Structural defects had been identified as a medium possibility, and not surprisingly during period 10, the first quarter of the job, they caused problems for the contractor at a reported cost of around 190k. However, it could have been far worse if the chosen contractor had not employed one of the most highly respected project managers in the Building and Commercial field, along with an investment stake in a risk management company, all of which helped to mitigate the affect of the structual defects, and reduce the final bill.

And so to the latest ENGINUITY TWITTER FEEDS :-

• Who were the star performers in terms of overall improvement and positional gain this week ?
  In terms of performance the plaudits went to "The Soho Six" (Stantec, UK) with an impressive 18% improvement that moved them 23 places up the table. The most impressive postional gain came from "Your Supreme Ladder" (Cundall, UK) with a 41 place climb that saw them surge up the table and into the top 20. They will be looking to climb a few more rungs in the next round.
  
  
• Of all the internal sponsor battles taking place one that has caught the eye this week is between the two Tony Gee teams taking part, "ARCTAN Associates" (Tony Gee and Partners, UK) and "The Civil Gee-niuses" (Tony Gee and Partners, UK), with the former holding the bragging rights, but only just as they are only separated by a mere 14 points after an intense 6 rounds of competition.
  
  
• Every year there are a few new sponsors to Enginuity, and this year's first timers are Carollo Engineers, John Sisk & Son and the University of Manchester. If they had their own NEWBEE mini league table at this stage it would be the students, "SiX GoLdZZ" (The University of Manchester, UK), currently at the top, and still in the top 20 and pushing hard to become the first University team to ever reach the final.
  
  
• The Enginuity Competition tries to simulate how unpredictable the bidding process can be in the real world, and in period 10 this was exemplified to the dismmay of the management team of "Stantogether" (Stantec, Australia), who lost their place in the top 12 after losing out very narrowly to rival bidders in 2 key bids. However, the experienced team from Down Under will not be too phased because last year in the final round they climbed 15 places to secure a place, and they have two rounds to make a similar move this year.
  
  
• As has been said before, the Enginuity competition is a stern test of resolve, and the ability to recover from setbacks; a real test of character. Once more period 10 saw some fine examples of this resolve, and in particular "Pell's Pioneers" (Pell Frischmann, UK), who had been rooted to the bottom of the table for 3 rounds, but undeterred they grew by an impressive 12% that moved them away from the foot of the table, and they will be hoping to explore even higher parts of the league table in the remaining two Preliminary Rounds.
  
  

League table at the end of period 10
Improvements, or otherwise, during period 10

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Arcadis
Atkins
Hatch
Jacobs
Laing O'Rourke
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann
Stantec
WSP

The penultimate round of the Preliminary Rounds encouragingly saw nearly 80% of the teams post positive growth figures in period 11, and as the final comes into sight 10 teams retained their positions in the top 12, with just 2 new entries, but there is still a sizeable chasing pack still in contention, and the tension is palpable, and there are sure to be more surprises before the identity of the 12 finalists is revealed next week. And with teams in the top 12 representing all regions of the world, and 8 different sponsors, another global final is on the cards.

And so to the action in period 11. The "Fanatics" (AtkinsRealis, India) held onto top spot for the third consecutive period with 2,269 pts, and keeping hopes high on the Sub Continent that this year could see a first team from India to take the title, and they extended their to 58 points from "Whatever it takes" (Stantec, Italy), who remain second. Both "Constructive Chaos" (Arcadis Australia Pacific, Australia) and "Stan Movers" (Stantec, United States) climbed two places each to 3rd and 4th respectively. The 2 new entries into the top 12 are both previous finalists, "Stan Movers" (Stantec, United States) who improved by a stunning 25% to move up 36 places to 8th, and the ever consistent "Enginuity State of Mind" (Jacobs, United States), who moved up 4 places to 10th.

The teams that qualify for a place in the Final will carry on with their businesses as they are at the end of the Preliminary Rounds, or early years. However, the final, or later years will present a number of new challenges. In particular, each of the 'human' teams will be in direct competition for work against each other, with just one additional simulated rival. This adds more uncertainty to the bidding process, and added to this contract awards are not just based upon price, but upon client relationships, so relationships built up over the early years take on added significance in the later years, and marketing strategies assume added significance as niche markets become very attractive. Only the team able to cope the best under the increased pressure, and with the most effective and robust strategy for competing in this challenging global environment, would eventually emerge as the 2024 Champions.

And so to the latest ENGINUITY TWITTER FEEDS :-

• Who were the star performers in terms of overall improvement and positional gain this week ?
  Both accolades went to a resurgent "Stantec Falcons" (Stantec, India), the leaders from the first round, with an outstanding 27% improvement that enabled them to fly 67 places up the table.
  
  
• What makes Enginuity is so challenging is that just like the real world it simulates, it can be very unpredictable, and as well as the KNOWN bidders that can adjust their bidding strategy as market conditions dictate, there are also potentially UNKNOWN rival bidders for each job, who can be very aggressive on price, such as Sharami International in period 11. The only way to counter this threat when bidding is to set margins a lot lower than anticipated, but this also comes at a price in that any jobs won will then have a lower profit in the bid, but on the balance of risk this is a strategically better decision to guarantee future workload.
  
  
• In the final round of the Competition there are always surprises, and one or two teams make a late move into the top 12, as happened last year when 4 teams timed their last Preliminary Round to perfection to claim a place in the final. This year the Enginuity Crystal Ball has been busy looking at what will be needed by teams currently outside the top 12 to achieve this, and the reveered sage has hence made the bold prediction that a score of over 2,200 may be enough to qualify for the final. We shall see!
  
  
• Looking at the top 30 teams in the table the largest sponsors are not unsurisingly well represented, but if there was a Sponsor prize based upon average team performance, at the moment it would undoubtedly go to Arcadis Australia Pacific, with all 3 of their teams in the top 30, and barring any last minute hiccups one finalist assured with "Constructive Chaos" (Arcadis Australia Pacific, Australia) currently in 3rd.
  
  
• One really encouraging aspect again this year is how many of the teams are heeding the words of the title of the 1985 Billy Ocean classic, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going", with currently NO teams below their starting position of 1,000 points, which has never been seen before at this stage of the Competition.
  
  

League table at the end of period 11
Improvements, or otherwise, during period 11

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Arcadis
Atkins
Hatch
Jacobs
Laing O'Rourke
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann
Stantec
WSP