How BW: Workplace Experts Turned Data into a Competitive Edge with Microsoft Fabric

The Challenge

BW is taking the fit-out industry by storm, growing quickly in a highly competitive, saturated market. To maintain this momentum, the business places a strong focus on innovation and technology as a key differentiator within the industry which is often prone to lagging behind.

With multiple systems in play across the lifecycle of a project, from Salesforce at the sales stage to Procore for construction management and Coins for finance, pulling meaningful insights together was complex and time consuming across every team.

Historically, data was extracted from a wide range of sources into SQL databases, with custom scripts of up to 10,000 lines required just to keep systems and datapoints aligned. With data flowing in in disparate formats, keeping everything running smoothly was a challenge. Any change in supplier APIs meant lengthy troubleshooting, and reporting was often delayed, inconsistent or at high risk of human error.

For site teams, vital safety data was stuck in paper based formats, at risk of being forgotten or seen as unreliable on a desk somewhere rather than being used at the centre of day-to-day work. With 75% of the BW team spending their days on site, the impact of unreliable data was felt across the business.

Meanwhile, the Finance Director relied on manual spreadsheet collation to understand financial performance, spending up to 4 days a month seeking the insights they needed. This not only slowed down progress but created a risk of error when reporting on projects often reaching a value of £100 million.

“Construction has been behind the curve in technology adoption. For us, the challenge was simple: how do we make data easy to access, accurate, and genuinely useful for the people who need it most?”

Tomas Hollingsworth, Director of Technology at BW

The Outcome

The impact of the project has been immediate and significant, transforming the way the team work day-to-day on sites across the country and in the central offices. Gone are the days of manual reporting, with outputs the team couldn’t 100% trust. Instead, they have instant access to reliable, interactive dashboards and a single source of trust no matter the department.

“The real value isn’t just having data in one place, it’s what that enables. Safer sites, more informed decisions, and a competitive edge in our market. Microsoft Fabric has given us the foundation to do that, and Transparity have been the perfect partner to get us there.”

Tomas Hollingsworth, Director of Technology at BW

Site safety transformed

Site teams no longer rely on a paper plan lost in a pile of paperwork in the site office. Now, they can turn to a real-time dashboard to check permits, review timings for safety procedures and to keep projects on track. For example, when hot work is carried out on site, which comes with increased safety risk, the site managers can clearly see when and where this will be, ensure the team have the equipment and PPE they need and be reminded to make sure those works are closed off safely when the work is complete.

With predictive capabilities site safety goes beyond real-time and allows site managers to be alerted to potential disruptions from the weather, resource levels and any relevant health and safety concerns.

Financial clarity

Instead of collating data from 30+ spreadsheets, teams from individual project managers all the way to the Finance Director can see the financial performance of a project at a glance. With the data neatly streamlined into a single source of truth, teams from senior leadership through to individual project owners can catch the highlights or drill down into the details they need.

With quick, easy access to vital data like project margins, budgets and variances, the Finance Director alone has saved 4 days out of every month on reporting. Now, not only have they saved the headache of working through spreadsheets, but they can get back to driving the strategic decision making and financial performance of the business.

Scalability unlocked

The number of projects managed simultaneously has grown from 20 to over 50, unlocking a potential increase in revenue of 150%. Not only does this reflect a landmark change in the growth trajectory of the business financially, but brings clarity to decisions about how to grow the team and where.

Compliance strengthened

With all their data centralised, BW is able to maintain compliance with mandatory and optional industry regulations easier than ever. A full 12-year audit trail is maintained automatically in the background, ensuring their compliance with rigorous industry regulations like the Building Safety Act and standards like ISO 27001, while also ensuring they have all the information they need to protect the business from liability in the event of an issue. With the industry-wide focus on creating the Golden Thread of information, this capability is more important than ever.

An AI-enabled future

With all their data securely organised and accessible with Microsoft Fabric, BW is ready to embrace the AI era. The team have grand plans to take their data and leverage it in a variety of AI applications, from predictive analytics for accident prevention, to project bidding and logistics. The business now has access to enhanced insights and capabilities barrier-free.

Improved sustainability made simple

With vast amounts of data from years of projects, the BW team can improve the sustainability of their projects going forward by looking for opportunities to streamline processes.

For example, fine tuning delivering times and routes to be more fuel efficient when bringing essential supplies to site. Gone are the days of deliveries scattered throughout the day. With project managers better able to see what’s needed and when they can ensure suppliers send only the equipment required and ensure it arrives within a single window following the most fuel efficient route.

Data-driven team growth

As a result of the success of the project, Tomas was able to quickly demonstrate the value of a modern data platform and advanced analytics. The value was so clear to senior leadership that the business has since grown out a team of data experts of its own to further drive the adoption and development of their data platform.