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The Project

It’s one of the most famous structures in the country - a cauldron of 90,000 screaming fans that took £798m and nearly seven years to design and build.

Martin Whife, Capita Symonds’ Director of Major Projects, and Senior Project Manager Thurstan Ollerearnshaw, give an insight into their work on the stadium - the perils, the pitfalls and, ultimately, the success…

How did our role on the stadium first come about?
MW: After a brief tender process and interview we were originally given a short-term commission by WNSL (Wembley National Stadium Limited) for nine months prior to financial close in 2002. At that stage WNSL wasn’t looking for a full-scale project management service from us - initially it was looking for our expertise in the setting-up phase of a major project and wanted a team of skilled specialists who could be seconded into the existing Wembley team.

What was our initial role?
MW: We had a small team of six and we assisted Wembley through a difficult phase - we had to demonstrate to the funders and government that Wembley was ready to take on such a large project and establish confidence that the project was going to be well controlled before the funds were released. We spent a gruelling nine months before financial close making sure that there were proven management and financial systems in place and a top quality, experienced and resilient team. 

TO: Our work on the financial close was a great success and, as a result, we just continued in that seconded role. It was testimony to the hard work put in by the team that WNSL saw that it needed our experience, support and dedication to successfully implementing the project. Our role eventually covered the whole of the construction period and the subsequent 12 months defects period.

What were the key factors in our success?
MW: I think the way we developed and managed the working relationship with the client was particularly successful – the Wembley management team relied upon us to provide them with comprehensive management support across the project. Another extremely important factor was the way our core team remained together on the project for nearly six years and the fact that we were based in Wembley’s office throughout. The client really appreciated this level of commitment, feeling that the employees on the project were an integral part of its own team.

TO: As this is one of the largest construction projects that actually didn’t have an independent project manager, WNSL did require a lot of support from us on a daily basis. It was a case of being constantly on call to answer any queries and solve any problems.

What challenges did you face?
MW: Our team grew in response to the issues that WNSL was facing from its main contractor – Multiplex. Our role was to review and respond to Multiplex’s voluminous correspondence, contractual positioning and general queries in some detail. We had to significantly expand our team with more staff who had a contract background so we could reply to each piece of correspondence in detail in order to protect WNSL’s position on every level.

TO: On a lighter note, we were especially proud to get the beer flowing on time for the first game – the community event. One contractor had not connected the beer lines properly but we got them up and running at 10.50am - ten minutes before opening!

And the client's reaction?
MW: Capita Symonds has earned plaudits across the board for our work on the project. The client, government and funders are delighted with the end product so you can’t say much more than that! We really impressed them with our flexibility and ability to provide the right level of specialised experience at short notice. We had a fantastic team who were also prepared to put themselves out, regularly working into the small hours just to get the job done. What’s more, it’s paid off in the form of the world’s finest sports stadium.

The facts

• The stadium features a stunning 133m high, 316m wide arch that is visible 40 miles away and is the longest single roof structure in the world; standing four times higher than the original stadium’s twin towers
• With 90,000 seats the new Wembley is the largest football stadium in the world with every seat under cover. There will be
• The London Eye could fit between the top of the arch and the pitch
• Each of the two giant screens in new stadium is the size of 600 domestic television sets
• There will be 2,618 toilets - which WNSL estimate is more than any other building in the world
• There is more leg room in EVERY seat in the new Wembley Stadium than there was in the Royal Box of the old stadium