星空传媒

Compared with the hysterical Halle, Peter Carruthers was positively wooden when he took the stage (as briefly as he could manage) to accept his 星空传媒 Manager of the Year Award.

Despite an astonishing barrage of congratulatory emails, letters and cards, and about a dozen calls from headhunters, winning the award hasn't really changed his life, and, according to colleagues, hasn't really changed him either.

He deflected the headhunters. He's doing the same type of thing he was doing before 鈥� project managing major commercial developments 鈥� and all he wants to do is keep doing it. He has no plans to set up on his own or leave Sir Robert McAlpine, though he admits some of the offers were interesting.

Carruthers typifies BMYA winners and the change the award brings 鈥� not much, in other words. He was doing well before and he's still doing well. Being the BMYA just carves deeper the career path in which you've already gained some distinction.

  "It didn't endow me with any kind of new respect on the project side," he said. "But I was absolutely astonished at the number of calls, faxes and cards from clients, consultants, professionals and others. I'll never have a problem sourcing a reference."

Carruthers won the award on the back of the West Quay shopping centre in Southampton, a 拢175m project involving the design, management and construction of two anchor stores, 69 shop units, 16 catering outlets and 4,000 car park spaces. The judges were particularly impressed because the client, Hammerson UK Properties, took on the development midstream and Carruthers absorbed their changes and guaranteed a maximum price.

I was absolutely astonished at the number of calls I got from clients and professionals. I鈥檒l never have a problem sourcing a reference

Sir Robert McAlpine was also bidding for the design and management of the Bullring, a 拢247m retail development designed to regenerate part of Birmingham's city centre. Hammerson was part of the client joint venture, and McAlpine brought Carruthers and his team into the bidding process. Again, Carruthers came up with a guaranteed maximum price. McAlpine won.

The Bullring's topping-out ceremony took place at the end of May and Carruthers is confident that the practical completion date of 1 September 2003 will be met. It's a big job. Over 200 subcontractors work on the three-storey, 110,000 square metre development.

Carruthers gives plenty of credit to his management team for his successes. He brought the lot (works, construction, design, finance and services managers) with him from Southampton to Birmingham. He's had the same team, in fact, for five years, and says they can hardly ever be criticised for what they do and achieve.

The admiration is mutual. Services manager Dave Ross says Carruthers can focus on the big project picture and the minutiae too, zooming in and out without losing overall focus. That, and Carruthers' capacity for long hours, keeps everybody on their toes. (Ross confirms that the award didn't go to Carruthers' head.)

This emphasis on the team shows how the BMYA is interpreted by the industry. The people who win are well ensconced in teams. They win because they are good team leaders. Unlike Nobel prizes, which push people further down their own paths of lonely genius, BMYA sees the sponsoring company quietly annexing the glory and wasting no time turning it into commercial advantage. This is appropriate because it's the companies who provide the opportunities and the teams who make them succeed.