After a period of intensive trialling the Birmingham City University / Horizon Campus Enginuity 2024 Competition is underway, with a competitive field of teams all battling for supremacy against their peers.

And so to the action, and all the teams made excellent starts, with the early pacesetters after 42% growth being "Tricrete Global" with 1,416 pts, but they cannot rest on their laurels with the chasing pack very close behind led by the "Innovative Design & Build" and "NEXTBUILD Innovations" in 2nd and 3rd respectively. However, it is early days, and there are sure to be plenty of twists ahead as the journey through the Early Years unfolds.

The early signs are that the competition will be very competitive, with all the teams improving their overall position in period 5. However, this was not unexpected. After being formed at the beginning of period 1, overhead costs were incurred whilst the companies were being established, without any profits being generated. The companies were now in a position to generate profits against a more stable overhead base, and this was reflected in improved operating profits. Of course, growth will be impossible without an effective strategy, and all the management teams have had time to think about this carefully, and come up with a set of objectives to deliver business success for their stakeholders.

2023 proved to be another turbulent year for the UK. Food and energy prices rose sharply, caused largely by global supply chain disruptions and the effects of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, resulting in a Cost of Living crisis in the UK, and the Bank of England were forced to increase interest rates many times to combat rising inflation, with resulting growth of only around 0.4% in the whole of 2023.
Hopes were growing towards the end of 2023 that 2024 could see some green shoots of recovery, with interest rates reaching their potential peak. However, many observers are sceptical with the upcoming general election, and a likely change of Government expected to prolong the uncertainty for businesses and delay investment, and growth is expected to fall to 0.3% in 2024.

Further afield global real GDP grew by around 2.9 percent in 2023, but is expected to slow to 2.5 percent in 2024, weighed down by high inflation and continued monetary policy tightening. Growth forecasts for 2024 are generally strongest in emerging Asian economies, and weakest in Europe and the US.
The outlook is not helped by the continued impact of the Russia invasion of Ukraine, and the Israel invasion of Palestine in the Middle East, all potentially putting further global pressures on energy prices across the world.

League table at the end of period 5

After the impressive growth figures posted in period 5, not unexpectedly period 6 proved to be a much tougher quarter. This was largely driven by the companies being unable to win as much work as they had previously, with the corresponding reduction in forward workload and margin KPIs. The result was changes throughout the league table, and crucially in the leading positions.

As 18 of the 20 teams posted negative growth figures, two teams defied the odds. The "Diamond Group" with only 1% growth were still a cut above the rest as they surged 13 places up the table and into second place, and not far behind the new leaders, the "SKFAMM Group Of Company", who tookover pole position despite just holding their own with 1,364 pts. "ActioNexus" moved up 8 places to 3rd despite a slight 2% decline.

With KPI points hard earned it will become increasingly important that the management teams look very carefully at every aspect of their business for potential improvements, and those that are most successful in doing so should prosper the most. Two areas that the teams need particular attention are Marketing strategy and Procurement (rival bidders), which are discussed in more detail below.

Marketing is possibly the area of the business that requires the most thought, as there are numerous strategies that could be adopted. The market trend can only be gauged for one year ahead, and not always accurately, and as marketing departments are expanded, the choices of where to direct the marketing effort are wide ranging, by sector, country and job size. The task is not an easy one, but has a major impact upon procurement options, and the future work undertaken, and ultimately on the long term prosperity of the company.

Another important consideration is that rival bidders do not necessarily stick with the same bidding strategy, and as time goes by they can change their strategy according to market conditions. This makes it imperative that teams keep a close eye on the margins rival bidders are applying, and how they may be changing. Evaluating these strategies could make the key difference between success in securing work, or not. To complicate matters even further there may be UNKNOWN rival bidders, and the only clues to these may be in the ENGINUITY NEWS NETWORK (ENN) for the period.

League table at the end of period 6
Improvements, or otherwise, during period 6

Period 7 proved to be a mixed one, with some very impressive growth figures for some, and some poor ones for a few others. At the top of the table "Tricrete Global" reversed their decline in the previous period with 15% growth that enabled them to surge 9 places up the table and back into top spot with 1,449 pts, closely followed by "Evergreen Builders WLL" who also enjoyed a good round as they posted 11% growth to move up 5 places, with "Innovative Design & Build" just 5 points further back in 3rd. With just in round to go it is going to be a tense finish before we know the identity of 2024 Champions!

Further down the table the most impressive performance was posted by the mysterious "Company No. 19" with a stunning 20% growth, and it enabled them to climb 11 places, and well away from the bottom of the table.

In the final round each team will be looking to finish strongly, and every decision will count in the final reckoning.

League table at the end of period 7
Improvements, or otherwise, during period 7