MAC Construction Consultants
Who we are
MAC works with schools and academies nationally providing strategic estates management services and advice on all aspects of construction projects. With seven offices and multi-disciplinary expert teams, we aim to support our clients to manage their estate in line with the DfE’s ‘Good Estates Management’ principles.
Our team has an excellent understanding of working with schools and academies and we are committed to securing the best possible outcomes for children and young people through delivering essential improvements to the learning environment. We can draw upon significant experience and transfer best practice, accordingly, always seeking to deliver continual improvement and innovation to our clients in the pursuit of delivering excellent teaching and learning facilities, which is core to our ethos and is our ‘moral purpose.’
We work with schools and academies on the design and delivery of capital projects ranging from £25,000 to £5m. Our work ranges from small scale refurbishments to entire new build schools and our dedicated team have overseen more than £350m of capital projects in recent years – working with around 500 schools and academies nationally. Our core services include:
- Safety, Health and Environment Services
We also regularly support our MAT clients in accessing external funding for the delivery of capital schemes. Our nationally renowned experts have secured more than £250m for the schools, academies and FE sectors to deliver essential capital works and we are passionate about supporting our clients to leverage external funds rather than expending limited capital allocations.
We have grown our work with schools and academies to a scale which we believe competes with the large and well-established consultancy practices. We also operate extensively in the wider public sector. This diversity ensures we are sustainable and allows our people to gain exposure to different types of work, build their skills and knowledge, and transfer best practice.
Our commitment to customer service, and our results driven approach, mean we have established long-lasting relationships with our clients who choose to work with us time and time again. We pride ourselves in being able to deliver a fully rounded construction consultancy offering from the start of a project to the very end, offering industry expertise and insight to provide our clients with the most innovative solutions.
Ultimately, our aim is to develop clients - not projects. We have successful long-term relationships with our MAT clients, many of whom we have worked with since the outset of our work with this sector. We have played a key role in the estates aspects of MAT growth for our clients and have been on this journey with them. Our client retention rate is unrivalled which leads to our year-on-year growth in our work with the sector.
Our ‘big enough to deliver, small enough to care’ approach will come across in all of your dealings with our people, who you will find provide a personal level of service and truly care as we pursue our ‘moral purpose’ in working with all of our valued clients.
What we do
MAC provides the full range of estates management support services to schools and academies, ensuring that they discharge their responsibilities under the ‘Good Estates Management for Schools’ (GEMS) guidance.
Our specific areas of expertise for the sector include:
•Condition Surveys
•Estate Strategies
•Estates Due Diligence
•Funding Support
•Design and Planning Applications
•Capital Project Design, Procurement and Project Management
•CDM/Principal Designer
•Health and Safety Audits
Some of our core areas of work incorporating these service areas are detailed below:
CONDITION IMPROVEMENT FUND
We annually work with single academies and smaller MATs in the bidding process for the Condition Improvement Fund and have secured more than £200m across more than 300 projects ranging from £50k to £3.5m. Our teams then lead the safe delivery of these projects on-site to meet time, quality and cost expectations. This has made a real and lasting difference to the educational environment for over 50,000 children and young people.
SCHOOL CONDITION ALLOCATION
MAC has extensive experience of supporting the larger and eligible MATs with the strategic prioritisation and management of SCA funding. This growing service has coincided with MAT growth and often follows a period of working with these clients on the CIF programme as they transition to SCA funding, or directly with a SCA-eligible MAT from its establishment. We continue to develop our strong reputation for best-in-class delivery leading us to be retained by MATs at this stage of their growth.
CONDITION AND COMPLIANCE SURVEYS
A Condition and Compliance Survey is an important tool for any school or academy to understand its estate and the priorities that need to be addressed through future capital investments. Surveys are undertaken by surveyors and H&S consultants with significant understanding of educational sites who advise on the timing and potential cost of building component maintenance, replacements and improvements.
CAPITAL PROJECT DESIGN AND DELIVERY
We are specialists in the delivery of capital projects for the education sector ranging from small refurbishments and building component replacements to full extensions and new build projects. Our multi-disciplinary teams work from project feasibility and inception, through the design and procurement stages, to overseeing the delivery of projects on-site.
DECARBONISATION AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
We annually work with academies and public sector organisations in the bidding process for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) and have secured significant funding ranging from £500k to £4m. Our teams then lead the design, tender and delivery of these projects on-site to meet time, quality and cost expectations.
These specific services are combined with a knowledge of the sector that means we can support our MAT clients in leveraging additional funding to deliver their objectives and maximise value from the limited capital funding they receive.
How we help
OUR COMMITMENT TO THE EDUCATION SECTOR
Our work with schools and academies nationally is led by a former Head of Estates for a MAT. This expertise in ‘Good Estates Management’ provides the insight required to translate strategic vision into reality for our clients and the ability to provide ad-hoc and informal advice on all aspects of the role. This is a unique model and is highly regarded by our clients who see us as a ‘one stop shop’ for all estates management advice.
FLEXIBLE EXPERTISE
We aspire to be the leading provider of estates and construction management support to the sector. Our culture, values and background means that we develop a lasting partnership with our clients at all levels. Our team of experts go above and beyond, and we are always on hand to help with other estates and construction management issues. If we don’t know the answer, we will signpost you to somebody who can help. Ultimately, we believe that our work with the sector is for the benefit of the children and young people using the facilities we help to create and improve.
ACCOUNTABILITY
As an owner-managed business, our Directors have a vested interest in the standard of service that we provide. With vast experience and expertise, they retain an active involvement in client management. This involvement is core to our ethos – we are accountable and take responsibility, working in a spirit of partnership to find solutions. This culture of accountability translates throughout our business at all levels.
DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS
MAC has a broad portfolio of clients in the education sector. We are regularly invited to attend careers events and other similar activities to increase awareness of the construction industry to children and young people of all ages. We run a successful Apprenticeship and Graduate programme across the business. These colleagues work with us while completing their studies and we receive excellent feedback from them and their educational institutions. We champion this approach as we seek to develop the future leaders in this sector.
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
We recognise the value of transferable knowledge and best practice, and this is synergetic with MAC’s approach to ongoing learning and development for our colleagues through continued exposure to new sectors, services and projects. We believe that we all have something to learn from our day-to-day experiences and we work extensively to transfer knowledge to our clients. We attend all the major conferences for the sector, contribute to webinars and other awareness raising work, including articles and publications. We have also worked directly with our MAT clients to deliver training sessions and internal conferences.
CHARITABLE WORK AND SPONSORSHIP
Our charitable work is extensive and we organise company initiatives as well as supporting our staff and partners with their own charitable causes and projects. We provide regular sponsorship for grassroots sports teams which our employees are associated with or where they operate in our local communities. In addition to direct sponsorship, we make regular one-off donations or provide prizes and sponsorship for specific charity events.
