Platform Screen Door Systems
Mane is currently the sole supplier of labour for a large client on a major rail project: the installation Platform Screen Door Systems (PSDs) at eight stations on central Crossrail.
These doors are designed to greatly enhance passenger safety and the platform environment. The client company installed PSDs on the Jubilee line 25 years ago and the new versions are upgraded and bomb proof.
Mane is predominantly supplying blue collar workers in the form of 220 mechanical and electrical staff, but also site engineers and a level of managers along with 25 other senior-level white-collar professionals including planners, designers, project managers and construction managers.
Mane initially won the contract after tendering alongside seven other agencies. The decision maker was particularly impressed by Mane’s industry knowledge and experience of the wider Crossrail project. When the contract originally began two years ago, Mane was brought on board to provide 15 staff. Thanks to superior delivery and management of talent on the project, this increased to over 250 personnel rapidly, with Mane inevitably becoming the sole supplier of talent thanks to its unrivalled candidate reach.
The contract is still ongoing and Mane continues to work extremely closely with the client. At the turn of the year, the team was tasked with recruiting 100 staff. In order to fulfil this brief, a senior consultant was seconded to the clients’ office three days a week for eight weeks to sit with - and work in conjunction with - the planning and resourcing team, heading up all candidate interviews.
Working closely with clients in this way is extremely rare. And this type of secondment demonstrates how Mane is integrated as much as possible within the project delivery team. Working in this way means that consultants are able to answer questions and queries in real-time and be abreast of resource forecasting for future weeks so that all parties are well prepared.
While it is a huge responsibility to be a sole supplier on a project of this scale – with the client essentially putting all their eggs in one basket – Mane’s track record in the sector made it a logical decision.
London is a hugely competitive market at present, with jobs like Tottenham Hotspur Stadium requiring huge amounts of resource. Failing to complete this project on time would result in millions of pounds worth of fines from Crossrail, and the fact that Mane are the only agency supplying this type of labour demonstrates the huge level of trust from the client. Since starting on the project two years ago Mane has delivered everything the client has requested with a 100 per cent offer to start ratio.
“We’ve had quite a few manpower surges on this project, which Mane have always facilitated. They have also been kind enough to give us resources to conduct all the interviews – sometimes fifty plus a day. So yes, I would highly recommend Mane.”
- Construction Manager