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Index to FAQ:
Certainly no more than you would expect to pay an agency to supply you with an highway engineer of my qualifications and experience. Under some circumstances, it could well be significantly less. And yet - whether I’m working in my own place or yours - that includes all the resources I bring with me. [Top] Isn’t your remote location a disadvantage? These days it’s a commonplace for large organizations to resource project teams from offices across the country - even across the world. Main project team, say in Leeds; Environmental team in Exeter, Bridge engineers in Inverness. Actually one of the guys in Exeter works mostly from home - St Ives, I think. Didn’t know that? No reason you should, as long as the work is getting done - to quality, on time. It’s the same with me, based here in the Western Isles. With all the technology and access to resources needed, but none of the distractions of the big office, this the perfect place for just getting on with the job. And does that sound like a disadvantage to you? [Top] Isn’t travel difficult? Take project meetings, for example. Let’s face it, dragging teams together at short notice - from wherever they are based - is something we all try to avoid, not least because of the high cost of staff time. Sometimes, though, face-to-face meetings, or problem-solving sessions, are indispensable - and I certainly value them. For shorter visits (up to a week, say) - and especially if arranged a fortnight or so in advance, air travel and hotel accommodation are generally cost-effective. My clients consistently prefer an hourly rate based on remote-working, paying for travel costs on an as-needed basis, though in many cases this has tended to fall into a pattern - typically a visit of one to three days, once every three or five weeks or so. [Back] We may need you here, at our offices, for a while: Can you do that? Yes, I can and do. I am organized and resourced with the flexibility to work almost anywhere. In such cases the cost of all planned travel is generally included in the hourly rate agreed in advance for that project: any additional agreed project-specific travel that may arise being charged at cost. But do consider - my working at my home office is not just to my own advantage. Working here, your valuable workspace, software and other resources remain free for your staff or other temporary engineers. But more significantly, when working here I charge only for the time actually spent on your project: so if there’s a lull in the workflow (and even on a D&B tender, it happens!), you’re saving money, - and there’s plenty else to keep me busy! [Top] What form of engagement do you use? Where I am engaged directly, this would typically be your own standard contract for appointment of specialist sub-consultants; otherwise I would suggest the NEC - Professional Services Contract. Where I am engaged via an agency, the agency’s terms of business will apply. [Top] Insurance is a major concern these days. What’s your position? A copy of my certificate of professional indemnity insurance is available on request to any client actively considering engaging my services. [Top] There’s just the one of you, right? Well, there’s a part-timer dealing mostly with nontechnical matters, helping me to concentrate on the engineering. I am looking to develop a small network of associates to work with, in particular engineers or technicians with a high level of skill, experience and resourcefulness in the following areas: SUDS drainage; permanent way (especially LRT); visualisation and animation. They’re difficult to find! [Top] How can you access our networked files and resources? For most small to medium-sized projects, the geometry and layout design, and the the MX modelling in particular, is usually assigned exclusively to me, working on a peer-to-peer basis within a well-defined project team. In these cases, electronic exchange of data via email or FTP site is almost always sufficient. For larger projects, often spread across several teams in number of offices - and especially the larger D&B or ECI projects, networked resources and collaboration tools are increasingly common. Internet-based tools such as Business Collaborator often require me to have little more than a login name and password, but for VPN based tools like Hummingbird or ProjectWise are usually - for security reasons - available only from one of your own computers, and in such cases I have been loaned a laptop for the duration of the project, for access/communication purposes, the actual design work still being done on my own systems. [Top] What about library resources - access to design standards, for example. I subscribe to a variety of internet-based library resources, and in some cases I even purchase hard copies. I invest a high proportion of turnover - almost 10% - in maintaining and developing my knowledge base. (Investment in know-how is even greater) [Top]. Your company’s name - what’s that all about? Garradh Mhor is Scottish Gaelic (albeit corrupted*) for ‘Big Wall’ or ‘Big Garden’. And in this case it’s both: the office is located within an eighteenth-century high-walled kitchen garden. We’re at the southern tip of the Isle of South Uist (in the Western Isles), overlooking the Sound of Barra. Walled gardens were developed to provide the perfect conditions for growing fruit and vegetables: a small-scale, closely managed environment, with highly skilled staff producing a level of output, variety, quality and consistency unimaginable ‘outside’ in larger-scale units. More significantly, perhaps, these gardens were centres for experimentation and innovation that pushed back the boundaries of what was believed to be possible (the first potatoes ever grown in the Outer Hebrides were raised here in this garden in 1742). That’s a tradition that we’re continuing in this historic walled garden, both with engineering and indeed with the garden itself. If you’re interested, why not visit the www.biggarden.co.uk website? [Top] |
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