Wembley Football Stadium Project

ABSTRACT

The development of Wembley Football Stadium (WFS) Project was envisioned to be one best
and largest stadiums in the world. The Wembley stadium was designed to constitute the
largest seating capacity with covering of roof. However, the WFS project had stumbled from
crises to crises. Owing to the fact the construction was closed in 2000 and eventually
demolished in 2002. The study aims to contemplate the elements of financial and
procurement arrangement deployed in the construction of WFS project and other issues
which adversely impacted the successful delivery of the intended project since there are
numerous issues associated with the working of project management team. The design and
build procurement strategy deployed in the development of stadium involved a significant
overlap between the actors and organization of project related to design as well as
construction relative to traditional method of procurement. The increase in overlapping
generates additional risk which are likely to increase further cost. Other than that ineffective
management, lack of scope, lack of plan, indecisive design, information flow and lack of
incentives added to the issues and resulted in cost and time delay. To ensure the successful
delivery of the project, project management is crucial certainly by a separate project manager.
Other than cost management, time management, risk management and scope management is
prerequisite in effective delivery of the project.
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Financial and procurement arrangement issues.....................................................................................2
Problems during construction Phase......................................................................................................4
Suggestions to improve the project delivery..........................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................8
Recommendation...................................................................................................................................9
References...........................................................................................................................................10

Table of Figures

Figure 1 Wembley Stadium Source (Swmoore, 2011)

Figure 2 Design and Build Approach Source ( (Adriaanse & Robinson, 2013)
Introduction
The development of Wembley Football Stadium (WFS) Project was envisioned to be one best
and largest stadiums in the world. However, the construction featured several issues which
doomed the entire development of the project. Owing to the fact the construction was closed
in 2000 and eventually demolished in 2002. The cost of the construction was stretched $789
million making it one of the most expensive constructed projects worldwide and a time
overrun of twelve months. As against the purpose, the project fell into the prey of accusations
and controversies which make study in this context substantially important since the resultant
issues forced the association to rebuild the WFS project.

Figure 1 Wembley Stadium Source (Swmoore, 2011)

The study aims to contemplate the elements of financial and procurement arrangement
deployed in the construction of WFS project and other issues which adversely impacted the
successful delivery of the intended project since there are numerous issues associated with
the working of project management team. The existence of numerous flaws aggravated the
cost and losses pertaining to the project. The second part of the report intends to put forward
certain suggestions and recommendations that would have enhanced the overall performance
of the project. The challenges of WFS project have been identified with the adoption of life
cycle framework. It constitutes four key stages procurement, planning, construction, and
termination.
Financial and procurement arrangement issues
 Design and Build procurement strategy

The procurement arrangement deployed for the build of WFS project was to design and
construction and contract form was guaranteed maximum price since the project operation
team was certain that scope of the project will not undergo change. However, in reality, the
scenario was entirely different. The design and build strategy method involved a significant
overlap between the actors and organization of project related to design as well as
construction relative to traditional method of procurement. The increase in overlapping
generates additional risk which are likely to increase further cost (Adriaanse & Robinson,
2013).

 Issues in attracting investors.

Wembley National Stadium Limited before the start of the project signed a contract with the
Australian Multiplex, a construction company based in Australia which certainly provided
him with the opportunity over others. However, the contract was signed without evaluating
the cost of construction. Eventually, the cost increased month-on-month basis owing to delay
in construction phase. The cost of construction was estimated to be £326.5m which inflated to
£445m after signing the contract. Since the time, Multiplex was chosen to be the contractor
by Wembley National Stadium Limited as the contractor the complexity and cost became to
manifold owing to the issue of attracting investors since Multiplex was ineffective,
inexperienced which eventually led to time delay in finalizing the design. All these issues
eventually stretched the date of completion as well as cost of completing the project
(Adriaanse & Robinson, 2013).
 Client Client Adviser

Design and
Build contractor

Subcontractior

Figure 2 Design and Build Approach Source ( (Adriaanse & Robinson, 2013)

 Delay in designing the project

The uncertainty concerning the incomplete design of the project posed an issue between the
contractor Multiplex and steel subcontractors which augmented the issues of procurement.
The Cleveland Bridge, steel subcontractor left the construction site owing to uncertainty
about the payment for materials which resulted into the court case in the year 2006 on
account of breach in contract. There were large number of consultants and engineers involved
in designing the project which also impose time delays and coordination issues. (Adriaanse &
Robinson, 2013).

Problems during construction Phase

 Ineffective management

The project management is the top most priority in management philosophy. It is made
effective by the operators of the project management working group. The development of the
project was owned by English Football Association. However, the biggest fault made by the
project management in this regard was to allow the subsidiary company Wembley National
Stadium Limited operate the project rather than providing into independent project managers
to manage the project. As a consequence, the operators could not seek the consent of the
project stakeholders specifically Government concerning the project specification. (UK
essays, 2015).

 Unprecedented Design
Arch was the most noticeable and essential part of WFS rooftop construction structure.
Wembley Arch was the signature trait of the stadium. It is regard as one of the largest
unsupported structures of the roof worldwide. Another essential feature situated on the
southern side of the project is retractable roof which was adjustable to allow natural light to
reach during the bad weather to cover entire stadium. However, the implementation of the
arch was challenging because of the fundamental concern was arch bearing the load was very
new as well as untested in existing design of stadiums. The unprecedented design of the
project makes it difficult to prototype unproven techniques as well as process in case of
formalised budget and time schedule. Since the estimation of time and design with certainty
was complicated (Swmoore, 2011).

 Time delay

The time that is ascertained and anticipated for project completion is a key element since cost
is likely to manifold with delay in times. It adversely impacts the confidence of community
with the project. The major issue which doomed the process of construction of WFS project
was delay in time. The project was anticipated to initiate in 2000 and complete by 2003 on
account of financial difficulties and stakeholders’ disagreements. Owing to which the project
development could not initiate before September 2002. As a consequence, the project was
completed in the year 2007 which was four years overrun on time and cost because of wrong
time estimation by the- executive since numerous events were cancelled (UK essays, 2015).

 Flow of information and incentives

The flow of information during the project life cycle was not forthright and incentives were
not in coherence to each other. The contractor was concentrating of disclosing the
information to the shareholders of the project and seeking their approval. As a consequence,
the contractor-sponsor relationship became tense and eventually resulted into legal action.
Owing to fixed price contract form, any sort of delay and consequential legal action posed
immediate adverse impact on the profitability of the project (Swmoore, 2011).

 Change in scope

On account of time delay at initial phase, the contractor and sponsor hesitated to conduct
work in coherence to the project on account of lack of trust in date of completion.
Consequently, it added few more months to project completion. Furthermore, during the
construction phase, there were changes in the project scope relating to initial design and
others owing to which many other factors were adversely affected and lead to further delay
(Swmoore, 2011). In addition, subcontractor undervalued the project scope. Eventually after
a series of issue, the same subcontractor was pulled out resulted in significant time overrun
(Project Management, 2020).

 Bad publicity

Breach of health and safety laws and death of scaffold work onsite followed by workers site
when several men were retrenched from the work after a dispute related to operational hours
as well as time intervals. All these issues resulted in the contractor’s resignation and
consequently company has to face bad publicity. These issues obstruct the challenge of
delivering an iconic stadium project (Aritua, et al., 2008).

Suggestions to improve the project delivery

 Effective procurement strategy

The procurement phase of the project constitutes different stages which includes pre-
acquisition, tender, contract award and supplier management. These phases necessitate
careful as well as specific design of assuring that it meets the best possible outcomes
(Buzzettoa, et al., 2020). The construction of WFS project is a landmark construction project
which has been fascinating as well as controversial at the same time. Besides the fact, it was
handled by highly experienced parties, it attracted more than 25 cases and several
adjudications. This situation raises the questions about the effectiveness of design and build
procurement strategy. Effective Procurement strategy as well as the careful selection the
contract can have substantial impact on the time and cost overruns in large and complex
projects. The form of contract must be appropriate to procurement strategy to appeal both the
client as well as contractor potential for handling the risk (Adriaanse & Robinson, 2013).

The procurement route has a substantial impact on the project cost, timing as well as
likelihood for dispute and stadium design as which Wembley Football stadium project was at
fault. There must be separation of design phase from the project construction phase since it
will allow the designers to work individual and separately from the contractors since a
specific environment is needed to design the project. It is an immense intellectual activity.
WFS project was built on design build strategy. The choice reflects that may be due to risk
averse trait of the clients. This option of procurement is criticized for being a costly strategy
relative to focus on quality of the design. In addition, the design and build strategy did not
allow for creativity and design innovation. (Aritua, et al., 2008).

 Proper contract form

Risk as well as uncertainties are pertinent in every work of construction irrespective of size
and complexity of project. The form of contract should be in coherence to the procurement
strategy method. The appropriate contract form outlines the key party’s relationship and
evaluation of cost on account of various in designs, unforeseen events, claims by various
contractors for additional payments. Had there been contract form in place, the cost
implication for time extension, design variation, work progress in WFS project could have
been avoided. Indeed, guaranteed maximum process involves incentive for contractor to keep
the cost to minimum by collaborating the savings during the process of construction with the
client. However, this contract was not appropriate for the WFS project. The risk could have
been avoided by re-design the phases of design by the architect at an initial stage (Adriaanse
& Robinson, 2013).

 Client management

To ensure the successful deliver of the project, client management skills are a prerequisite.
The project manager is accountable for ensuring the success of the project and providing an
interface between the client and project group. They supervise each and every concept which
constitutes planning, execution, evaluation, and control of the project. They insinuate that
required timeframe and budgets are adhered to. Furthermore, any sort of potential mistakes
which are likely to be expenses can be avoided or attended in right time (O'Riordan, 2019).
Furthermore, Football clubs run on strategic level by the head. Thereby it is crucial to build
the right relationship that boosts timely and straightforward communication concerning the
requirements of client and expectations (Aritua, et al., 2008).

 Management of stakeholder expectation

Similarly, client management, management of stakeholder expectation is more crucial for

iconic stadiums such as Wembley structure since the stakeholders constitute client and team
of designers. The major issues with WFS project were management of primary and
secondary stakeholders since it was complicated and troublesome. The issue was augmented
owing to mixture of private and public funding because the public stakeholders of the
stadium had diverse requirements associated with use of funding. Furthermore, it must be
certain that end objective of the project as well as time, cost, and quality balance along with
its impacts must be clarified and communicated. This will insinuate that anticipated vision as
well as expectations must in coherence with the available funding as well as minimal changes
that are likely to introduced at later stage in the life cycle of project (Aritua, et al., 2008).

 Effective team of executive

The Department to ensure the successful delivery of the project must develop a strong team
of executives to manage the project which include maintaining the relationship with key
contractor Australian Multiplex. The major reason behind the time and cost overrun was
several changes in the design owing to the issue in appealing the investors. There must be the
establishment of ‘no change’ in the culture in ambit to reduce the risk involved in enhancing
the cost beyond specified price. The client in association with company contractor Wembley
National Stadium Limited must have set the scope at a specific point to keeping the thing in
mind that later changes would extend cost and time. The scope must have segregated by the
team of executives to outline the role of each stakeholder in the project. It must be insinuated
that objectives must be concise and clear to avoid any sort of obstructions at a later stage
(Vibhute, n.d.).

 Effective corporate governance

To strengthen the corporate governance arrangements of Wembley National Stadium

Limited, effective corporate governance must be set in place to supervise the effective
management of the construction project. The arrangement of corporate governance must be in
coherence with the standards that are applicable to listed companies (Vibhute, n.d.).
Corporate governance constitutes a structure of rules, processes and practices that are
deployed by the company to provide a route and keep a control over the actions. Good
corporate governance framework can provide a route to complicated and large projects. Lack
of corporate governance, projects are likely to suffer from the impact of the organization as
well as involvement of large number of stakeholders. Corporate governance framework is
likely to maintain a balance between the company which includes management, stakeholders,
customers, suppliers, and community (Westland, 2019).

 Assessment and management of risk

While constructing the large and complex projects, construction risk is apparent. The
development of stadium project is likely to take longer time as well as manifold cost than
expected resulting in funding gap. To ensure the delivery and viability of the project, risk
must be managed at a prior stage. The contract of the construction must apportion risk
between the Wembley National Stadium Limited and the primary contractor Australian
Multiplex to ensure that contractor has a benefit to deliver the project within time and budget.
If the stadium completions are delayed, Australian Multiplex shall be imposed an obligation
to pay penalties to the subsidiary company. There must be contingency provisions.
Furthermore, the operating risk is another form of risk apparent in the construction’s projects
at a large scale. The running cost of the stadium are beyond the anticipated which undermines
the feasibility of viability of the stadium to meet its obligations in the senior bank. To ensure
feasible deliver, Wembley National Stadium Limited must have applied to Sports England for
funding in case of financial difficulty. (The National Audit Office, 2003).

Conclusion
In nut shell, the WFS project had stumbled from crises to crises. The project suffered from a
catalogue of issues. The Wembley stadium was designed to constitute the world largest
seating capacity with covering of roof. However, it took numerous months to complete the
development and that too at high cost making it one of the most exorbitant constructed
stadiums. Provided, the design and build procurement route was build on the minimum
agreed price with Australian Multiplex, contractor. However, the strategy went against the
best practices currently that allow for creativity and innovation in the iconic structures to
meet the requirements of client. Other than that poor management, indecisive design, health
and safety breaches, dismissal of workers obstruct the relationship between the company and
subcontractor. These all issues are significant to reflect since it tainted a bad image on the
construction industry and formulated a bad reputation that industry has taken several years to
shed.

Recommendation
Iconic structure like WFS project is anticipated to be architecturally breath-taking as well as
magnificent. It needs to consider wide range of consensus. Indeed, the construction of
complex projects involves several issues in the procurement process. The substantial
investment in context of time and cost is required for the development of the project. Often
the clients face dilemma at times on how to procure cost effective as well as efficient projects
to insinuate that all the facilities are fit for the purpose. In this context, it is essential to
comprehend the critical drivers of the specific sector the project is functioning.
Experience is the largest asset regardless of the fact whether experience arises from failure or
success. In case of any one fails to reprimand from errors are likely to be doomed to repeat
the error again. Project management plan is crucial for the effectiveness of the project. Along
with that, scope management, time and cost management are of immense significance to
ensure the successful delivery of the project. Thereby, reasonable amount of time as well as
effort must be devoted in the planning phase to ensure the project is transparent, realistic as
well as explicit objective. Team members of the project must involve effectively with client
as well as outsider stakeholders to secure the project from substantial changes along with its
propounding issues. Furthermore, the procurement in the construction industry must be
segregated from the competitive tendering as well as cost and procedures must be developed
that makes the use of team capability and partnering. The contracts must be designed in such
a manner which should offer incentive for improvement in cost and time and ensure a win-
win environment between the client as well as supply chain management (UK Essays, 2015).

References
Adriaanse, J. & Robinson, H., 2013. Chapter 9 Procurement and Contract Strategy: Risks
Allocation and Construction Cost. Oreilly.

Aritua, B., Bower & Turner, M., 2008. Managing the delivery of iconic football stadiums in
England. Management, Procurement and Law.

Buzzettoa, R. R., Bauli, M. R. & M. M. d. C., 2020. The key aspects of procurement in
project management: investigating the effects of selection criteria, supplier integration and
dynamics of acquisitions. Production.

O'Riordan, D., 2019. The Importance of the Project Manager in the Construction Process.
[Online]
Available at: http://www.rockallprojects.com/blog/importance-of-the-project-manager-
construction-process/

Project Management, 2020. Wembley Stadium – A Badly Run Project with a Good Outcome!.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.projectmanagement.ie/blog/wembley-stadium-a-badly-run-project-
with-a-good-outcome/

Swmoore, 2011. Project Failure – Wembley Stadium. [Online]

Available at: https://strategicppm.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/project-failure-wembley-
stadium/

The National Audit Office, 2003. The English national stadium project at Wembley, s.l.: The
National Audit Office.

UK essays, 2015. Case Study Of The New Wembley Stadium Management Essay. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/essays/management/case-study-of-the-new-
wembley-stadium-management-essay.php

UK Essays, 2015. The wembley national stadium. [Online]

Available at: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/project-management/the-wembley-national-
stadium.php

Vibhute, U., n.d. WEMBLEY STADIUM. Academia.

Westland, J., 2019. What Is Corporate Governance & How Can it Impact My Project?.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/what-is-corporate-governance