Delapre Abbey Case Study

Project name: Delapre Abbey Restoration

Client: Northampton Borough Council
Project Budget: £6.3m
Project Duration: February 2015 – February 2017
KBS Ltd Deliverables: Contract Management/Cost Management/Risk Management/Funder Liaison/End User Liaison

Project Narrative:

Delapre Abbey is a fine urban country residence which has its history as a Cluniac Monastery. In the ownership of the public purse since the end of the Second World War, the building had been used for municipal purposes until the turn of this century, at which point it was left vacant and fell into a very poor state of repair, leading to it being listed by Historic England as a ‘Building at Risk’.

Kinver Business Solutions Ltd were procured to act as Client Project Manager to oversee the restoration works and the joint working with the end user.

We immediately delivered the start on site as per the programme and worked closely with the appointed design team and contractor to ensure that the works programme was adhered to.

The end user appointed their Director five months into the restoration programme and it quickly became apparent from their knowledge of the sector that there were challenges present within the design and usage of the building.
The client agreed that there was a need to review the design whilst staying within the original project cost parameters. This was actioned and a number of discreet design changes were implemented in good time to ensure no delays were incurred.

A fundamental project output was reviewed and Kinver Business Solutions Ltd along with the end user championed that this needed to be incorporated. With the client approval, further necessary funds were brought forwards and the project has since completed.

The end user is now in occupation of the building and will be aiming to open the property during the summer of 2017.

Kinver Business Solutions Ltd were also appointed by the end user to complete a grant request to the HLF for their new Resilient Heritage scheme. The submission was completed in late 2016 and has resulted in the largest individual allocation of funds from the scheme via the East Midlands office.