Newfoundland Quay

The Newfoundland Quay is a 220-metre, 60 storey skyscraper in London. It is currently the tallest residential building in Europe, located at the western end of the Canary Wharf estate, close to the River Thames.

During construction, Victor Buyck and Hollandia (jointly known as VBH) were contracted to supply and erect the steel diagrid with diagonals and nodes, the base plate grillages, the floor beams of the node levels and roof levels, together with the steel beams and columns of a two storey high annex building. Mane was the sole provider of talent to VBH on the project, supplying the entire team, from labour to site management: in excess of 50 contractors in total. In terms of job roles, these were predominantly steel erection gangs, but also welders, site staff and labour.

Sourcing the volume and calibre of talent needed for this project was somewhat challenging as the client required professionals with very specific experience. At site manager level, candidates needed solid experience with high-rise, through working on a similar role on the Shard, for example. Realistically, for each job, there were just three or four people who had the right experience. Mane tapped into this very specialist talent pool by leveraging its extensive talent reach to find an entire team with steel experience working over 50 floors – all were sourced from the UK.

The tower’s location added an extra level of complexity to the project. Situated in a busy area, Newfoundland has the smallest footprint for a building of that size anywhere in the UK. Because of the confined space, piling was done in between and around London Underground tunnels. As such, the professionals that Mane supplied had to be really experienced and knowledgeable to work in these tough logistical circumstances. 

General labour was required to be sourced locally where possible. Mane was able to identify and upskill a percentage of contractors from Tower Hamlets and the surrounding area to not only meet the client’s brief, but also build and develop talent pools in the region.

These local candidates were offered support in establishing that they had the right qualifications and training to ensure that they could obtain CSCS cards to gain access to the construction site. Entry-level recruits were also put through fire watch training to work alongside the builders.

Ultimately, Mane fulfilled this tough brief, and the client was extremely impressed with the quality of talent supplied and the standard of service received. 

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