People Spotlight: Meet David Staniforth
Our People Spotlight series gives you an inside look at our technical experts around the world. This week, we are highlighting a framework director from our Buildings + Places (B+P) business in the United Kingdom and providing you an insight into their inspiration and work.
David currently leads B+P’s framework strategy to drive growth through our key frameworks. He is also the director for the Scape framework available to all UK public sector clients to hire and work directly with AECOM. With a vast range of sectors and services included in the framework, it has become one of our key routes to market. An important element of the framework is promoting the use of local suppliers across our projects. Our reporting to Scape on this aspect has given us valuable data to further support our ESG strategy.
Tell us about what inspired you to join the industry.
I always wanted a career that would provide variety and travel opportunities. I have been fortunate that I have been able to get all that within a single organisation. My father’s first degree was in civil engineering, so there was always an awareness of what the construction industry could offer. Also, my great-great-great uncle was Sir John Fowler, engineer for the Metropolitan Line which starts at Aldgate (by our London office) and the Forth Rail Bridge. He was also president of the Institution of Civil Engineers. So, you could say either it runs in the blood, or I’m a massive underachiever.
I always wanted a career that would provide variety and travel opportunities. I have been fortunate that I have been able to get all that within a single organisation.”
What is your favorite AECOM project that you’ve worked on and why?
If I could have two. The first is Spinnaker Tower, a 170-meter-high observation tower in Portsmouth, which provides views across the Solent, a strait of the English Channel. Our Basingstoke structures team were the designers for the superstructure, and I was the design manager. It’s still a favourite, partly because it’s a great-looking and iconic structure, but it was also a privilege to sit alongside the team as they collaborated and worked out the hugely complex design subject to wind and fatigue loading. We worked very closely with the contractor on a constrained schedule — the construction was underway within a few days of issuing details. There was no opportunity to “click undo”. The project was challenging, but you knew you were part of something quite special.
The second is the Scape framework bid which I led in 2020. Our success was primarily because we had a great bid team. Our team dynamics worked extremely well, and it was interesting to see what could be achieved in a pandemic lockdown. However, it does also demonstrate how important the basic components of any bid are: good knowledge of the client, effective pre-positioning and well written, evidence-based responses. I will never forget receiving the e-mail saying we had won both lots.
Our team dynamics worked extremely well, and it was interesting to see what could be achieved in a pandemic lockdown. I will never forget receiving the e-mail saying we had won both lots.”
Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.
A current example is my work at the Winchester Prison to promote employment skills and professional services opportunities for people at the end of their sentence period.
Breaking the cycle of release, unemployment and reoffending is a key social value target for the UK’s Ministry of Justice. I sit on the Winchester Prison’s Employment Advisory Board, which works to improve the connections between the prison and local businesses. We are working with the prison employment team to have volunteers from our Basingstoke office, mentoring prisoners in resume preparation, and interview and presentation skills. These are small steps, but just getting some regular mentoring sessions in place will significantly impact prisoners’ chances of employment.
Breaking the cycle of release, unemployment, and reoffending is a key social value target for the UK’s Ministry of Justice. I sit on the Winchester Prison’s Employment Advisory Board, which works to improve the linkages between the prison and local businesses.”
Share a piece of career advice.
Grasp the opportunities that are presented to you and run with them. They may take you in a different direction than you initially thought, but they will enrich your experience and make you a more rounded professional.
