After a period of intensive trialling the University of Manchester Enginuity 2024 Competition is underway, with a competitive field of teams all battling for supremacy against their peers.

And so to the action, and all the teams made excellent starts, with the early pacesetters after 44% growth being the "Synergy Squad" with 1,440 pts, but they cannot rest on their laurels with the chasing pack not far behind led by the "Biz-Brains" only 2 points further back. However, it is early days, and there are sure to be plenty of twists ahead as the journey through the Early Years unfolds.

The early signs are that the competition will be very competitive, with all the teams improving their overall position in period 5. However, this was not unexpected. After being formed at the beginning of period 1, overhead costs were incurred whilst the companies were being established, without any profits being generated. The companies were now in a position to generate profits against a more stable overhead base, and this was reflected in improved operating profits. Of course, growth will be impossible without an effective strategy, and all the management teams have had time to think about this carefully, and come up with a set of objectives to deliver business success for their stakeholders.

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

After the impressive growth figures posted in period 5, not unexpectedly period 6 proved to be a much tougher quarter. This was largely driven by the companies being unable to win as much work as they had previously, with the corresponding reduction in forward workload and margin KPIs.

At the top of the table new leaders emerged as the "Accidental Moguls" took advantage of the decline of many of their rivals, and although they only just held their own, it was enough to anable them to climb 5 places to secure the lead with 1,380 pts. However the lead is a slender one of just 7 points from "Biz Magician", who jointly has the best positional gain in the round, a 10-place rise only matched by "Beauties no Beast". "SiX GoLdZZ" were able to move up 2 places to 3rd despite a small decline. The teams who found new work difficult to come by will have to look carefully again at their bidding strategy, and in particular at the margins they are setting to try and undercut their rivals and still make a profit on the jobs they bid for.

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

Period 7 proved to be one of impressive growth figures for many of the teams, and none more so than for "Goodgoodstudydaydayup", as the previous basement team grew by an astounding 24% to surge 18 places up the table to second, and within touching distance of the leaders.

As previous leaders "Accidental Moguls" fell back it was "SiX GoLdZZ" who showed their metal as they climbed 2 places with solid 8% growth to become the third different leaders with 1,461 pts The "Quantum Quokkas" also enjoyed a good round as they climbed 6 places to third, and it is already becoming clear that many of the teams are well matched.

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. PROFITABLY 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 structural defects affected the construction of a new health spa for the client, Orlando Adventure World, in the United States, with an estimated risk cost of around 280k before mitigation.

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

Getting to the top is hard enough, but staying there is even harder, but during period 8 "SiX GoLdZZ" were able to achieve this with solid 8% growth that moved them onto 1,579 pts, but their lead over their nearest rivals is still a slender one of just 19 points from "Biz-Brains", who climbed 4 places to second, with "Quantum Quokkas" remaining in third.

In a round of largely growth across the board, the outstanding performers were "Echo", whose stunning 19% improvement enabled them to move off the bottom of the table, and up 12 places to 8th. The "Wonder Six" also caught the eye, and lived up to their name with 15% growth that saw them climb 11 places to 6th.

With just one round to go each team will be looking to finish strongly, and every decision will count in the final reckoning, and a number of teams are well places to become Champions should the leaders slip up.

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

In a dramatic final round, "SiX GoLdZZ" held off a strong challenge from their nearest rivals to emerge as the University of Manchester Enginuity 2024 Champions with an impressive finishing score of 1,726 pts. Ultimately their success owed much to them demonstrating one of the guiding principles in running a successful business, consistency, having led the competition for 3 of the 5 rounds, and having never been out of the top 5.

The Final Round saw every team post postive growth figures, almost unheard of in Enginuity History. "GOAT8" produced a stunning final round with 21% growth to surge 8 places up the table, and become this year's Runners Up, and only 7 points adrift of the Champions, and so close to living up to their team name. "Quantum Quokkas" held their position to finish 3rd, and just ahead of "Beauties no Beast" who finished 4th. At the other end of the table "Win-Win" posted the best results in the final round, a stunning 24% improvement that lifted them 5 places off the bottom of the table.

In the final analysis all of the teams finished with stronger, more sustainable companies than when they took over in period 5, a testament to the skill and application shown by the management teams in what was a roller coaster of a journey through 5 simulated quarters of management.

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