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 2025, and 16th 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 99% of the teams were able to post positive growth figures in period 5, and the top of the early leaderboard is dominated by teams from North Amercia and India. The early pacesetters, and flying high at the top are the "CEPTIANS" (AtkinsRealis, India) with 1,362 pts, but they cannot rest on their laurels with the chasing pack close not far behind, led by the "The Stantec Strategy Squad" (Stantec, India) in 2nd, and only 2 points further back "Hatchico" (Hatch, Canada) in 3rd, followed by two more teams from Stantec, "Stantec DPGenuity" (Stantec, Canada) and "Standard Deviation" (Stantec, Canada), as as the reigning sponsor Champions attempt to emulate the success of "Whatever It Takes" in 2024. It is tight at the top with only 65 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 second successive year a team from the University of Manchester are taking on their peers from Industry. Last year "SiX GoLdZZ" produced an inspired performance, finishing in 15th place at the end of the Preliminary Rounds. This year "No Eye Deer" (SQUARE, University of Manchester, UK) are rising to the challenge, and have made a solid start, and do not be fooled by their team name as they are well equipped to do well, despite the demands from their studies.
  
  
• The Champions in 2022 and 2023, Jacobs, are once more well represented with teams from all over the globe. It will take a monumental effort to repeat the success of "Babble Royale" in 2022 and "briJ" in 2023, but "Shubh Labh" (Jacobs, India) have started particularly well in 6th place, and many other Jacobs' teams lie in waiting not far behind.
  
  
• New to the Competition this year are Bechtel,the US-based global engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company. They have two teams taking part, the "Golden Retrievers " (Bechtel, UK) and "Horizon Construction" (Bechtel, UK) and it may take a while for them to find their feet, but it is the former who have made the best start with 19% growth.
  
  
• Pell Frischmann/RSBG UK have been involved in the Competition for many years, but have never qualified for the final, but after some intensive preparation, and 6 well prepared teams taking part, hopes are high that this could change this year, and "Pellocity" (Pell Frischmann - RSBG UK, UK) have raised hopes further after an impressive start in 14th place, with "Highway to Pell" (Pell Frischmann - RSBG UK, UK) also well positioned in 23rd.
  
  
• 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.
  
  

2024 proved to be another turbulent year for the UK. Politically there was a change of government in July with the first Labour government since 2010, and Prime Minister Kier Starmer promising a 5-year plan of growth. In the economy growth figures were better than expected with GDP growth of around 1%, helped by the Cost Of Living crisis easing as inflation fell, and the Bank of England were able to cut the base rate from 5.25% to 4.75% between August and November, and the green shoots of recovery are expected to continue in 2025 with projected GDP growth of 1.6%, but continuing conflicts around the world add some uncertainty to these projections.

Further afield global real GDP grew by around 3.2 percent in 2025, and is expected to continue at this rate during 2025. India remains the strongest performer among major emerging economies, with robust growth driven by domestic reforms and foreign investment. However geopolitical factors, including changes in tariffs and industrial policies in the United States when President Trump takes office in January 2025 could alter global forecasts with the potential for trade wars, and continued conflict in the Middle East and Russia's war in Ukraine could trigger broader inflationary pressures.

The league table at the end of period 5
Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Carollo Engineers
Hatch
Jacobs
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann - RSBG UK
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 turbulence throughout the leaderboard in period 6, and 3 new entries into the top 12, and qualifying places for the final at the end of period 12.
However, at the top of the table the "CEPTIANS" (AtkinsRealis, India) remain in top spot on with 1,532 pts, after another solid round, and have extended their lead slightly from the chasing pack. Behind them "Hatchico" (Hatch, Canada) moved up one place to second, just 5 points ahead of "Shubh Labh" (Jacobs, India), and "Mile-High Heat" (Stantec, United States) are now the top placed Stantec team after a 17-place gain moved them up to 4th. Another team that moved into the top 12 were the "Diamonds Team" (Jacobs, Poland/India/New Zealand), who moved up 23 places to 9th, and they will be looking to show they are a cut above the rest in the rounds ahead.
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 "Go-Pro" (Stantec, India) with a stunning 38% growth that moved them 30 places up the leaderboard, and well away from the foot of the table.
  In terms of positional gain, and there were many eye catching rises (and falls), "Dupont & Duplomb" (Stantec, Canada) took the plaudits with an eye catching 73 place rise from 100th to 27th, and demonstrating what can be achieved in one round with an effective set of decisions based upon a sound strategy.
  
  
• Long time supporters and previous champions of Enginuity, WSP, have once more entered a number of teams, from the UK, India and New Zealand, all hoping to emulate the success of "Building Suspense" from the United States in 2020. Currently the "Hard Hat Heroes" (WSP, UK/India) hold the internal bragging rights, and well placed in the top 40, but other WSP teams are not far behind.
  
  
• And what of the only student team taking part ? "No Eye Deer" (SQUARE, University of Manchester, UK) made a solid start in period 5, but are they neglecting their studies and concentrating on Enginuity after an impressive 24% improvement in period 6 propelled them up to 18th, and well placed to make a push for the top 12.
  
  
• 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 build new retail outlets for Kumal Developments in Hyderabad, India. Unfortunately Specialist subcontractor problems cost just over 100k that impacted on the job's profits in the project's fourth 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 "MechXperts" (Stantec, India) are one that stand out after pulling away from the foot of the table in period 6 with a 15% 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.

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

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Carollo Engineers
Hatch
Jacobs
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann - RSBG UK
Stantec
WSP

After the turbulence of period 6, it was much more serene for the majority of teams in period 7, with 82% posting positive growth figures. However, there was still plenty of movement throughout the league table, and 4 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 5 and 4 teams respectively, with AtkinsRealis, Parsons and Mott Macdonald all represented in the leading places in what is already shaping up to be a titanic struggle.

The top 12 qualifying places for the final are still largely dominated by teams from North America and India, but for the first time this year a team from the UK are at last represented, with "Astra Engineering" (Jacobs, UK) moving up 8 places to 5th. Two of the other new entries into the top 12 are teams packed with experience, with "Stantogether" (Stantec, Australia) and "Enginuity State of Mind" (Jacobs, United States) finishing 11th and 12th respectively in 2024. The 4th new entry were "Competitive Salary" (Mott Macdonald, Bulgaria), the sole Motts entry, but a team determined to become the first Mott Macdonald champions.

It is very rare for one team to remain top for the first 3 rounds, but "CEPTIANS" (AtkinsRealis, India) have achieved this as they continue to lead the field with 1,697 pts, and their preparation for the Competition is paying dividends. Behind them there was a shuffling of the pack, and a significant move from last year's runners up, "The Mighty Turtles" (Parsons, United States), who are slowly coming out of their shell as they have moved from 10th to 5th to 2nd, and now have their eyes firmly set on 1st place. Not far behind are "Mile-High Heat" (Stantec, United States), up one place to 3rd, replacing "Shubh Labh" (Jacobs, India) who dropped back to 4th. However, the leading teams cannot rest on their laurels with 13 other teams within 50 points of the top 12, and more changes are guaranteed in the next round.

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 jointly to two teams from Stantec UK, "Waste of Energy" (Stantec, UK) and "The Energizers" (Stantec, UK), both with impressive growth figures of 20%. In terms of positional gain, "JV Enterprises" (Stantec, India) took the plaudits with an eye catching 53 place rise from 73rd to 20th, and once more demonstrating 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 6 teams taking part, all from the UK, and the team holding the internal bragging rights at the moment are "Risky Business" (AECOM, UK), but the "Motorway Mavericks" (AECOM, UK) are in the fast lane and close behind.
  
  
• 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 the "Scope Creep Squad" (Carollo Engineers, United States), who have made steady progress up to 15th, and 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.
  
  
• MWH Treatment in the UK have been long time supporters of Enginuity, and this year all 4 of their teams taking part are performing well, with the "Apex" (MWH Treatment, UK), well placed in the top 40, doing particularly well, with "London is Calling" (MWH Treatment, UK) close on their heels.
  
  
• 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 were "Horizon Construction" (Bechtel, UK), who moved away from the foot of the table with a 16-place gain and a 7% improvement that raised hopes amongst their stakeholders that better times lie ahead. Incredibly there are no teams currently below their starting total KPI of 1,000 points, showing how well the teams are adapting to the challenge of running their virtual construction businesses.
  
  

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 personnel problems affected the installation of foundations and a water trunk main for Devon and Cornwall Water near Tavistock in the UK in the job's second period, with an estimated risk cost of around 60k before mitigation.

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

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Carollo Engineers
Hatch
Jacobs
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann - RSBG UK
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 good one for the majority of the teams, with 80% posting positive growth figures. However for those that struggled this was largely down to winning 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.

As in the previous period, during period 8 there were 4 new entries into the top 12, and qualifying places for the Final. One of these was from a resurgent "Hatchico" (Hatch, Canada) who bounced back strongly from zero growth in the previous period with a 24% improvement that moved them back up to second. Even move impressive were "Jal Force" (Stantec, India) with a stunning 23% improvement that catapulted them 45 places up the table to 4th. At the top of the table the "CEPTIANS" (AtkinsRealis, India) were not able to maintain their grip at the top as they slipped back to 7th, to be replaced by "The Mighty Turtles" (Parsons, United States), who climbed one place after 13% growth that has enabled them to open up a 100 point gap from the chasing pack with 1,870 pts, and they are looking strong contenders to repeat the success of "It's Nothing Parsonal" back in 2021.

As the teams enter the second half of the Preliminary Rounds it is still all to play for before the identity of the 2025 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 jointly to 3 teams, "AECOMrades" (AECOM, UK), "Team Vertex" (Jacobs, India) and "Bridge the Gap" (WSP, UK/India), all with impressive 24% improvements. In terms of positional gain, and there were many eye catching rises (and falls) again, "Team Vertex" (Jacobs, India) took the plaudits with an amazing 60 place rise from 82nd 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. Carollo Engineers have been entering teams for the last few years, and this time round they have 3 teams taking part. The "Scope Creep Squad" (Carollo Engineers, United States) are clear leaders in the Carollo mini league, but "The Change Orders" (Carollo Engineers, United States) and "Ca-rolling to the Top" (Carollo Engineers, United States) will be determined to make their mark in the second half of the Preliminary Rounds.
  
  
• At the end of the last round the ENGINUITY CRYSTAL BALL picked out "Scope Creep Squad" (Carollo Engineers, United States) as potential dark horses this year, but he has turned his attention back to his native UK at the end of period 8, and "Build Baby Build" (Cundall, UK) have caught the eye of the old sage, having moved from 35th to 12th place since the Competition began, and I am sure that this has not gone unnoticed at Cundall HQ!
  
  
• There are several teams being sole representatives of their sponsors, and one of them doing particularly well at the moment are "Damage Is Ltd" (Environment Agency, UK). They were the first team to register this year, and after using their trialling time effectively, they have put what they have learnt to good effect, and are well placed just outside the top 30.
  
  
• 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 one that really caught the eye was that of "AECOMrades" (AECOM, UK), who had been occupying the wooden spoon position at the end of the last round, but not anymore as they climbed 21 places, and their shareholders will be hoping this is just the start of their revival.
  
  

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 "As preparations continue for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, California construction companies operating in the United States fear a shortage of workers in the next 6 months, and are looking at sourcing the shortfall from elsewhere. Clearly this could become a concern for contractors working in America in the next few months, and may well impact on labour costs, which would increase build costs on jobs progressed, and reduce profit margins.

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

Sponsor league tables (3 or more teams):-
AECOM
Carollo Engineers
Hatch
Jacobs
MWH Treatment
Pell Frischmann - RSBG UK
Stantec
WSP