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Our team had a whirlwind time at Propski 2024.

As newbies to the event, Luke Roberts and Danny Waters got stuck right in, throwing themselves into every event available, on and off the slopes. They took part in everything from  Tobogganing & Ski Racing to Savoyard Dining Experiences and Après Ski. Of course, they could be spotted carving through the snow with their ski groups.

Over the three days, as well as having a lot of fun, they did some hard-core networking. The team were overwhelmed by the warm reception from the other attendees and made valuable contacts during their trip. All in all, a great success.

As an employer, nurturing new talent is important to us, assisting their learning from the word go. Many of our senior team members began as apprentices or recent graduates at TPI and now boast 10+ years’ worth of experience in the industry.

Great examples of this are Chris Williams and Aaron Burchett, our most recent team members to go through our apprentice scheme. They have made substantial contribution to projects at TPI and continue to carve out their names in the industry. Both are currently studying at London South Bank University to achieve chartership. We look forward to seeing their progression in the years to come.

This is what Chris has to say about his time as an apprentice:

“The structured learning framework of my apprenticeship has enabled me to combine practical knowledge with theoretical insights, fostering a well-rounded approach to problem-solving.

This combination of practical experience and academic learning has not only equipped me with the tools to excel in my role but has also instilled a sense of confidence.

Having exposure to many other candidates and peers on my course has not only given me a sense of teamwork (Replicated within the workplace) it has also provided me with great friendships that I hope will continue after completing my course.”

We are proud of our apprenticeship scheme at TPI and the talented individuals who have come through its doors.

2024 is a big year for Total Project Integration, it marks our 40th anniversary in the Construction Industry. To celebrate we have decided to start a campaign ’40 for 40’ to raise money for charities near to our hearts.

’40 for 40’ is simple, a team member can commit to an activity of their choice for 40 times, seconds, minutes, days- one for every of our 40 years in the industry.

Our team have already committed to a variety of activities from 40 runs, reading 40 books in a year to knitting 40 bonnets for premature babies. (That’s a lot of 40’s).

As a team, we have chosen 3 worthy charities to donate our proceeds to:

1. The Lighthouse Club – a charity who provide emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support to the construction community and their families.

2. Helen Rollason Cancer Charity – a charity supporting people whose lives are touched by cancer- all types of cancer at all stages, whether newly diagnosed or longer-term, throughout treatment and after treatment is completed.

3. Huntington’s Disease Association – a charity that supports people in England and Wales affected by the genetic neurodegenerative brain condition Huntington’s disease (HD). Huntington’s disease affects the body’s nervous system causing movement, cognitive and behavioural challenges.

We hope you will support our team’s journey to raise money for these wonderful charities and join us in celebrating our 40th anniversary.

Donate here.

Thank you from all of us at TPI!

During 2023, Total Project Integration made it our mission to attend more events in order to grow our network, strengthen relationships and keep up to date with industry news, topical subjects and legislation.

Networking Events are a key activity of business development, and in the property and construction sector we have our fair share of them. You have your big conferences, such as MIPIM and UKREiiF, regular local networking events (such as 1st Friday Club, Netwalking, LDN, CPD seminars) and smaller company hosted events (breakfasts, dinners, drinks, tours, sporting events). The list is extensive and can be somewhat daunting.

Here are just some of the events we have attended and hosted this year:

• MIPIM (Conference Delegates)
• UKREiiF (Conference Delegates)
• Sailing Day in Portsmouth (TPI hosted event)
• Industry Breakfast in London (TPI co-hosted event)
•  Ashes Cricket at Lords (TPI hosted event)
•  GEMCO Gaymes, Hyde Park (Entered a team into this new event)
• Constructing Excellence in the North East Awards Dinner, Newcastle (Guest)
• Insider North East Property Awards Dinner, Gateshead (Guest)
• Virtual shooting range, Newcastle (TPI hosted event)
• Magic show and dinner, Durham (TPI hosted event)
• British Port Association Conference (Conference Delegate – attending in October 2023)

Many more CPD seminars, networking lunches, dinners and industry awards were attended by our team.

Every single event we attended or hosted took substantial planning from our marketing and business development team. We are grateful for all the new contacts we made and the opportunity to spend quality time with our clients. It has been an interesting and eclectic calendar of events in 2023 and we have very much enjoyed getting “out and about”!

Networking takes time. We are at the start of our journey and there is so much more to learn.

Another successful year for Total Project Integration.

Looking back over the past 12 months, it is astonishing to see how much we have achieved as a company. We have expanded our team, received project and company accolades and seen a new Director step into management. This is without acknowledging the personal successes of our team members who have been running marathons, performing Shakespeare abroad and even getting married.

At TPI we recognise that the success of the company is down to the commitment and job satisfaction of our team. Supporting the professional development of our team creates these company successes as a wonderful byproduct. This is why we champion our status as an Investor in People Platinum Company, with a 100% Employee Engagement record (Thomas International Statistic 2022). Our people are what make TPI so successful.

As well as IIP Platinum and 100% Employee Engagement, our team has secured many more company achievements:

–        Carbon Neutrality: To help reduce our impact on climate change and the environment, we are committed to retaining our Carbon Neutral status annually, planning our future in the most sustainable way possible.

–        ISO 45003: As well as our existing suite of ISO certifications (9001, 14001, 45001), which we have continued to achieve yearly, this year we were proud to have also achieved the new (2021) certification in psychological health and safety at work. Mental health support is key to our 2023 Agenda, this is a big step in supporting the health and wellbeing of our team.

–        Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the UK: This membership, secured in January and championed by our Senior Project Manager, Sergio Duque, helped to expand our connections with the Spanish market and has connected us with other industry professionals.

–        UK Employer of the Year: We were shortlisted for the UK Employer of the Year (2-49 employees): Platinum at IIP’s 2022 Awards.

Internally we have had more, significant, successes:

–        New Director: Paul Williams has been with TPI for 8+ years, having worked on notable TPI projects such as the Port of Tyne portfolio and numerous build-to-rent schemes with a repeat private client. In January 2023, Paul stepped up to Board Director as well as continuing his responsibilities as regional lead. This is the start of new chapter for TPI.

–        New Recruits: In the last 12 months, we have had 6 new starters, across both the regional and southern teams. It is wonderful to have new talent and support people through the next steps of their careers.

–        Graduate: Assistant Quantity Surveyor, Lucy Theron, graduated from London South Bank University with a First Class Honours. We are proud to have supported her through her course and look forward to seeing her progress at TPI.

–        Mover: Luke Roberts relocated to Cheshire, expanding our coverage across the UK and helping to build TPI’s regional work.

A handful of project successes:

–        Bodmin Jail Awards: Former Jail turned Hotel project, Bodmin Jail, won Building Magazine’s Refurbishment Project of the Year 2022, as well as being nominated for ArchDaily Building of the Year Award 2023 and shortlisted for 2023 RIBA Southwest Award.

–        BÓHA London: We worked on high-profile bar and nightclub renovation for stars of ‘Made in Chelsea’ Harvey Armstrong and Sam Holmes, in partnership with Jay Bradley and Chase Hunter.

And many personal successes: Adam Mullins ran a marathon, Sergio Duque Del Rio got married, as did Liam MacDonald, Chris Raby completed the Great North Run, George Skinner spoke at multiple construction seminars, Lucy Theron hosted her own networking event and Laura Hall toured Shakespeare around the UK and Overseas.

It truly has been a year of success for TPI, and we have so much more to come. 2024 is a big year for us, certainly a year for celebration and hopefully even more success.

A month after UKREiiF, our team at Total Project Integration have been reflecting on how successful the event was. It is hard to talk about UKREiiF, without comparing it to MIPIM and this year our team have attended both for the first time.

In both cases, the networking experience was incomparable to other events, the sheer concentration of industry professionals, all ready to engage, was an invaluable experience. Like many others, we are learning how to navigate these events and slowly getting our company name out into the industry.
Our key takeaways:

1)    Plan: from fringe events to meetings and conferences, the time goes by so fast and making the most of it takes a lot of forward planning.

2)    Business Cards: Whether it is paper, wooden or laminated, sharing socials is made faster and helps keep track of all the wonderful professionals we meet. Our stockpiled stack after each event, is a small trophy to remind us how successful our networking has been.

3)    Comfortable Shoes: This cannot be hammered home enough. Wardrobe needs to help attendees to get to meetings fast and attend all the events they have planned, not hinder you with a blister.

There are of course many more lessons we have learned and more to come. The information shared by the event, in the form of seminars, conference and stalls, and by the people we have met when attending, has given us a useful insight into the industry and its future.

Thanks to all those we have met and of course the organisers of both events.

We look forward to UKREiiF and MIPIM 2024!

Happy International Women’s Day to all the women at TPI and women who work alongside us!

At Total Project Integration, we are proud to have a female Managing Director Jane Hewitt and an ever-growing team of women in the company.

We want to take this day to celebrate our team of Jane Hewitt (MD), Ylva Tretow (Financial Lead and Senior PM), Lucy Theron (Assistant QS), Issey Wassell (Trainee PM), Jill Bovington (Executive Assistant), Carla Vasey (Graphic Designer) and Laura Hall (Marketing Executive).

According to statistics from the Office for National Statistics, women made up just over 14% of the UK Construction Industry in 2022.

Despite this low statistic, we are glad to contribute to this percentage of women in the industry and we continue to strive to make this higher through new recruits and inspiring the up-and-coming generation.

We hope to see this figure rise in 2023.

Total Project Integration are now Carbon Neutral!

Beginning our journey early 2022, our sustainability team, Lucy Theron and Issey Wassell, have gone through the process of reducing our carbon emissions as a company and offsetting the remaining emissions.

We have chosen to offset with a United Nations’ project to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of Hidroelectrica La Confluencia in South Africa.

This is only the start of TPI’s work to make the company more sustainable and reduce our damage to the climate.

We want to do our part.

Looking over Monument station on the junction of King William Street, Cannon Street and East Cheap sits our recently completed project 68 King William Street. This mixed-use, landmark project now boasts idyllic views of the London Skyline, a new destination venue for London locals and visitors. The site was acquired by Black Mountain Partners and Ares Management Corporation in 2019 as a joint venture to revitalise this local landmark. Total Project Integration were appointed as Project Managers and Employer’s Agents on the redevelopment of this iconic building.

The video, created by Black Mountain, highlights the wonderful features of the building, however, in this article we will dive in deeper into the expanse of work and our involvement as TPI.

The building was formally home to House of Fraser before its closure in 2019. As part of the change of use application, Total Project Integration assisted the clients with obtaining the required S108 Licenses for a direct entrance from the subway to a new Gym facility on the lower ground, as well as the relevant licenses for an access door.

The retained façade has been delicately restored and maintained which opens on to a modern, refurbished reception area. An additional West and East entrances were created. Internally, the existing lift core was demolished and infilled; a new firefighting lift was also installed from basement to level 9 to provide access to the new users of the roof top bar.

The lower ground will be fitout with a top-quality gym, open to the public and the occupiers of offices on floors 1-8 of the building. The ground floor will be converted into a restaurant by a prestigious restaurant operator responsible for various fine dining spots around London. On the top floor, the plant has been relocated and 2465 square foot has been cleared to make way for a mezzanine bar overlooking the city’s skyline.

Sandwiched between these hospitality and leisure features are 8 floors of modern office space. All floors but the second have been finished as CAT A fitout with a stunning Atrium sweeping through floors 5-7. The 2nd floor had been refurbished to CAT B fit out and is acting as a show office to display the potential of each floor to prospective tenants. All communal areas have been fit out with high-quality facilities and sleek interior finishes.

Previously known as “the gateway to the city” in London, the revitalised, mixed-use building has now reclaimed its position as a hub for workers and tourists alike.

68 King William Street is a shining example of the mixed-use schemes Total Project Integration are involved in. From the high-end restaurant to the 8 floors of office space each aspect of this monumental, historic building was handled and managed with precision by the team. Despite the difficulties placed on the project by COVID-19 and other programme constraints due to a narrow access road in Central London, 68 King William Street was completed with minimal delay. We are pleased with the project’s completion and its new position as a high-end hub for London life.

Here at Total Project Integration, we are delighted to share the walkthrough of our recently completed project BizSpace Ashford. Using high-tech drone recording, we have been able to capture the team’s work on this new build enterprise centre, for our long-standing client ‘BizSpace’. Appointed in 2017, our team acted as Project Managers, Quantity Surveyors, Employer’s Agent and Principal Designers on this project.

We oversaw the construction and fit-out of the 3-storey Enterprise Centre in the heart of Kent. Along with a vibrant interior design package, which was produced by an external company, the project also included associated external works, specifically a new access road to the building and associated landscaping. The terrain presented its own set of challenges with extremely poor ground conditions which complicated the excavation of the new access road. Excess water resulted in heavily saturated ground which prompted an extensive redesign of the road and overall car park. We ensured this was done efficiently and ran parallel with on-site works, together with a temporary trackway solution which aided works to continue.

Another issue of note that we overcame was a delay in the Utility connection. This involved extensive liaison from our team to obtain the utility and approvals for external utility connections. An easement process was also required for the approval of the gas connection. Managing this project through National Lockdown in March 2020 and implementing revised site Covid working operations was a new challenging task for everyone involved but was executed efficiently by the whole team.

Despite the challenges faced, this new Enterprise Centre has been completed and shall assist with SME’s ability to obtain short term tenancy agreements for flexible working space. This landmark office building shall be a huge advantage to the industry during this post-COVID, hybrid-working world. We are glad to celebrate another successful project to add to our framework with BizSpace and look forward to future projects together in the pipeline.

Acacia Hall has been one of the most widespread infrastructure projects we have worked on to date, and we are glad to finally celebrate its completion. We were first appointed as Project Manager and Cost Consultants in October 2018 by Dartford Borough Council to assist with the project which had stalled during post tender negotiations. Over the past two years the scope of work has incapsulated many different aspects including demolition and refurbishment works for standalone buildings, highway modifications, re-lining the River Darent, construction and refurbishment of various car park areas, decorative gate installation and bridge refurbishment and new bridge construction. Despite the limitations of Covid and the breadth of work, our team used our expert knowledge and experience to skilfully bring this project to completion.

The Acacia Hall site began as a historic car park, surrounded by existing buildings, and located near a Grade II listed building (Mansion House). The beautiful River Darent also sweeps through the site, which presented further challenges when considering the ecological strategic implications. Taking over a project that is already in motion is difficult, however, following the dispensing of the existing consultants we swiftly managed the execution of the contract via a Deed of Variation and enabling works commenced in January 2019.

Works began with the demolition of several buildings surrounding the site, located in a publicly accessible area, and the refurbishment of two existing buildings inclusive of internal works and a creation of a new pond. The carpark was a mixture of resurfacing and new construction, but all were adapted for heavy HGV vehicles which totalled circa 350nr car parking space within the site. 2nr existing vehicle bridges and an existing pedestrian bridge were refurbished, together with a new build pedestrian bridge as part of the overall works, whilst always maintaining public access through construction posed various phasing challenges.

The two biggest challenges we faced were working alongside the River Darent and the highway which ran parallel to the site. The River Darent refurbishment works design commenced many years prior to the contract works. The brief was to ensure that the small section of the Acacia Hall River works ran as close as possible or parallel with the wider River Darent refurbishment works to minimise the associated temporary works costs. We presented cost advice on design solutions during the project and the works were completed successfully whilst ensuring minimal disturbance to the surrounding area.

We oversaw the modifications to the highway which were approved through a Section 278 agreement. The works included surfacing, kerbing works, road markings/ signage, soft landscaping and associated removal & clearance works. The scope was agreed through the County Council to ensure the works were deemed safe and low maintenance risks.

The overall refurbishment of the site has totally transformed this historic car park into a newly developed estate. The conclusion of the works improved pedestrian and motor traffic into the town centre and the site. The enhanced public amenity space is a vast improvement and has created a new community space and additional letting opportunities with the newly refurbished buildings and surrounding grounds.

We are glad to have worked on such an intricate project with Dartford Borough Council, please view the drone footage above for a snippet of this wonderful site.

“We are proud of our people and their achievements.”

Total Project Integration, a former Investors in People (IiP) Gold Standard Employer of the Year, are delighted to announce that we have been awarded Platinum Accreditation against the IiP Standard by demonstrating our commitment to high performance through excellent people management.

The IiP Platinum Accreditation is the highest accolade that can be achieved against the Standard and is currently held by only 9 other IiP accredited organisations within our sector of industry, and 2% of all IiP accredited organisations nationally.

Commenting on the award, Jane Hewitt, Managing Director, said: “It is a remarkable recognition of Total Project Integration’s approach. It is a journey that started in January 2014, when Total Project Integration put people management and development firmly at the top of our agenda. This journey continues, and this specific milestone demonstrates Total Project Integration’s commitment to the ongoing development of excellent Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors. We are proud of our people and their achievements.”

We shall continue to uphold this Platinum level of excellence in our people management and will adapt swiftly and adroitly to any new challenges in an ever-changing workplace.