SBID at the Fit Out Awards: Shaping best practices in the UK

By April Lara

June 25, 2024

Photo of Vanessa Brady

Vanessa Brady OBE, founder and CEO of the Society of British and International Design (SBID) and a judge at the Fit Out Awards, shares her insights on the awards' influence on the UK fit-out industry. We discuss SBID's crucial role in promoting best practices and showcasing industry excellence through the awards. Vanessa also explores the challenges fit-out companies encounter in maintaining high standards and details how SBID's accreditation process underscores the importance of project management, sustainability, and design.

How does SBID's involvement in the Fit Out Awards influence and shape best practices within the UK fit-out industry?

It is the quality of the entries and the scale and size of the projects that in themselves demonstrate the quality of the contractors involved. I have been a Judge for many years now and the projects get better and better. I think the contractors demonstrate that even with multi-million-pound budgets and years of experience there will be issues throughout procurement. But what is inspiring about the awards is that they highlight how the contractors overcome these issues and that demonstrates their professional ability to create solutions.

They also highlight the methods adopted, something I don’t see in other awards and the mix of experience in entries shows me that the awards are inspiring and not simply showcasing. I look forward to reading about the projects and seeing the finished venues and I am always really impressed. I also watch some companies grow and expand year on year. That has, to some extent, been due to the awards themselves as that has provided potential clients with comfort in awarding their project to winners.

What are the main challenges UK fit-out companies face in maintaining standards?

I think maintaining standards in the UK is difficult when the inspector process slows down visits due to workload during procurement. There is also a difficulty in assessing what is actually required by legislation and what is over-egging when much of the criteria is open to interpretation.

The methods adopted for current day building and fit-out post-Grenfell fire have forced a major review in building regulations that came into force in April this year. That has provided some clarity as well as additional costs. For contractors on fixed projects with increasing materials due to Brexit, Covid, and now Grenfell, it is probably one of the biggest challenges the building trade has faced in the past fifty years.

How does SBID ensure that its accredited fit-out companies prioritise project management and sustainability alongside design?

We have a Construction and Fit-Out Council for contractors, and we consult regularly on their challenges so that we feed that into what we ask from designers, be that further training, methods, and timing on information, plans and instructions, and BIM (Building Information Modeling). It is all about improving communication and procurement, dovetailed with finance, and that is the golden rule for me.

When I ran my own Fit-Out company, one of the biggest benefits I generated was a separate snagging team – it was what kept me being referred and what left my customers satisfied. I also found that the schedule of works and changes along the way that are inevitable when running a moving project meant that I could adapt and still link those changes into the budget control at speed.

It is the delays that cost the time and the dirt that causes bad feeling – combined with soaring budgets, fear sets in. I find these awards and projects are so valuable due to the scale and timeframes that by entering or simply following them, anyone in the industry will gain from involvement.

What advice would you give companies entering the Awards to showcase their best work and stand out?

Draft your entry, spend time on the layout, and then, when you are ready and you think it's complete, go back and read the entry rules and criteria again. So often, people have not read the guidelines and do not answer the questions. Sometimes an incomplete entry is what has cost that all-important winner’s trophy.

As a judge for the Fit Out Awards, what unique perspectives do you gain on the leading edge of the UK fit-out industry?

As a Judge, I learn about timeframes for the scale of works and also the sums involved for the size of the property. Over a period of time, this has helped me see when a project is held out at a fee and time that simply doesn't look accurate or, in reverse, is a great achievement.

However, I want to know how it was achieved and I want to see the longevity in the products used for the purpose of the building and the environment where it sits. I want to know about the impact on the environment in the removal and wastage of materials in the demolition process as well as how it will impact the surrounding properties and built environment.

I also want to know about the end user, who will work or relax in the building, what time of day they will use it, and what they will do in it. These points help me understand if a building will date quickly and, if that is the case, it may need further investment before the planned refurbishment date. I look at the age of users and their well-being, which means considering whether the colours used are good for visual impairment or whether the lighting might create issues. I do look at the projects with a holistic view.

Finally, I examine the investment and the return on that money to make sure that such projects will continue to be commissioned. That is where the awards have earned – quite rightly – their place with me as the leading fit-out awards, and I look forward to judging them each year.

The Fit Out Awards UK are now accepting entries! Download the entry guide here. Meanwhile, the Fit Out Awards IRE is open for registration. Register now.