Are there advantages to employing multidisciplinary companies rather than firms offering specific services? The question has arisen over the past 10 years as companies offering a range of services, such as WS Atkins, McBains Cooper and Davis Langdon, have developed.
Many of these firms started as traditional surveying outfits, and, either through acquisition or growth, have assembled a range of services that include design, architecture, engineering, agency and facilities management.
Mike Byrne, director of design, environment and engineering at WS Atkins, is quick to point out the advantages of using a one-stop shop. “True multidisciplinary practices can offer cost-effective solutions,” he says. “It’s very hard to have a group of people in an organisation that is not cost-effective.”
McBains Cooper originally started life in 1785 as Henry Cooper & Sons — reckoned to be the first firm of quantity surveyors in the UK. Now the company offers services such as project management, building surveying, architecture, facilities management and engineering.
Keith Young, the company’s head of architecture, is passionate about the benefits of working in a multidisciplinary practice. “I have always believed that getting things built is a team-work activity, and it is a real pleasure working with other specialists like engineers and cost consultants,” explains Young. “I know their strengths and weaknesses far better than if I worked with outside consultants.”
A further strength of these practices is the ability to manage the overall process, says Young, adding that companies offering specific services have individual priorities that “get in the way”. And he is adamant that multidisciplinary firms do not offer a mixed-up hybrid of services but a collection of individual experts. “That has to come first. If it doesn’t, we are in trouble.”
There are also financial advantages to having an in-house team of experts from differing disciplines, says Young. “If the architects win a project, and the client wants another service, then it’s no bother to include other services. You can double the amount of fees coming to the firm.”
One area that many multidisciplinary firms seem to avoid like the plague is construction, however. Neither McBains Cooper nor WS Atkins offer this service. “You cannot underestimate the specialist knowledge of construction contractors, and we are not making that quantum leap,” explains Young.
Conflict of interests
Davis Langdon is another multidisciplinary firm that has transformed itself from a quantity surveyor into an all-purpose construction consultancy offering project management. It has also avoided construction services. Alastair Collins, a partner, explains: “You cannot have an independent interest in managing the project and at the same time constructing it. That is an absolute conflict.”
He stresses that Davis Langdon has deliberately chosen a suite of services where there is no conflict of interest.
Other more traditional surveying firms are considering making the leap into providing other services such as engineering and design. CB Richard Ellis, for example, now offers in-house expertise in building consultancy and has dedicated teams for architectural design, building surveying and services, and project management.
But as David Hitchcock, managing director of building consultancy at the firm, remarks: “We do not do structural engineering, mainly because the demand tends to be ad hoc rather than part of our day-to-day work. Although we do have an architectural design side, we do not see ourselves as being a major designer or offering a full design service. It’s certainly not cost effective for us to do it.”
Hitchcock adds that another danger of diversifying further is that the company becomes too diluted in terms of the activities it offers. “A broad spread of services can breed mediocrity rather than excellence in each service line,” he says.
Pointing to the advantages of the multidisciplinary approach, Hitchcock says: “Working for one client leads to less conflict and a clear focus on achieving the clients’ objectives leading to lower costs in terms of fees to the client.”
Another surveying firm, Knight Frank, has not ruled out exploring the range of surveying disciplines, but says this is unlikely to extend to building in terms of construction and architecture. “I think that development clients like the idea of having marketing and specification advice, but then want to choose their own architects and contractors,” says partner Alistair Elliott.
All eggs in one basket
He adds: “There would be a potential conflict of interest for the client if we were advising on every aspect of marketing, design and construction of the building. That would be asking our clients to put an enormous number of eggs in one basket, and a degree of independence for every discipline is required.”
Some companies, however, believe traditional surveying firms should stick to their strengths. Paul Boden, lead director for professional services at Jones Lang LaSalle, says: “If you need structural engineers or architects, then you should hire the best in the market rather than try and be all things to all men.”
He adds that it is not part of JLL’s strategy to branch out into other disciplines. “We want to be the best in what we do. I would sooner hire people on a job-by-job basis than pretend to be the best at everything.”
The debate between multidisciplinary companies and those offering a specific discipline is set to deepen. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Inevitably, it is up to the client to decide which type best delivers the service it needs.
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Bosses choose one-stop shop for HBOS shops |
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In September 2002, Nick Hardy, the manager of retail, development and construction at HBOS, was given a capital budget to refurbish 100 retail branches across the UK, with the aim of delivering an “extraordinary sales environment”. “We went to McBains Cooper because we got the full package: programme, cost management and architecture, all managed from one point,” reflects Hardy. “It was a huge redecoration exercise — what we called a ‘mid-term makeover’ — which would extend the lifespan of the branches.” |
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The work involved repainting walls, installing new floors and accommodating new furniture. Armed with the signed off drawings from HBOS’s internal design team, the quantity surveyors from McBains Coopers, who were also acting as project managers for the refurbishment, visited sites and agreed on the scope of the job. |
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Hardy believes there was one overriding advantage to using a one-stop shop: “Having one single point of contact. If we had a problem with project management we would go to one person.” He adds that, before choosing McBains Cooper, his team identified potential risks. |
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“One was putting all our eggs in one basket, especially if McBains Cooper went into receivership. But we decided that it was unlikely to happen, and a necessary risk that we could afford to take.” |
