"Not That Team", a non-sponsored team, who were playing remotely have been crowned MERIT 2018 Champions.2018 champions

All six teams in the final of the 2018 MERIT management game which took place at Loughborough University, came from outside the UK for the first time in the game’s 30 year history.

The winning team was not sponsored by its four members’ employers, and so they had to play remotely from overseas.

106 teams took part in the early rounds against the computer, with the six leading teams then selected for the finals, where they competed against each other for the final eight rounds.

MERIT is strongly supported by ICE’s management board, as well as by the Chartered Institute of Building and the Construction Industry Training Board.

ICE President Lord Mair was at the final. “The MERIT finalists showed outstanding collaboration, planning and decision making,” he said. “These are the future leaders of the industry displaying their skills.”

The winners, named Not That Team, had the handicap of not being in Loughborough, but also they were spread across three separate offices – in Bangalore and Gurgaon in India and in Dubai.

All six teams were closely matched at the start of the finals, but Not that Team quickly rose from joint second to develop an increasingly unassailable lead. Three of the other teams came from Atkins, two were from India and one was from Hong Kong. The other finalists were teams from Jacobs in Dubai and KBR in Qatar.

For full game results, please see the MERIT 2018 game page

2013 salver

Day 1 of the MERIT 2018 Final is in progress....

 

Click here for the Period results

 

2018 final timetable day 1

 

 2018 final timetable day 2

confettiCongratulations to Atkins India, who have retained the Sponsors Award after a very close battle with KBR.

 

The Finalists are also now decided.

The top six from the last round remain there to be the Finalists of MERIT 2018 but the order changed. KBR's 'Highwaymen' remain at the top, with 'Not That Team' with no sponsor rising two places to second place. Atkins Chin's 'Atkins Amigos' and Atkins India's 'Regime' both drop one place to third and fouth respectively, while Jacob's 'CH2M is now Jacobs' rise one to fifth place and Atkin India's 'INSIGNIA' slip one to sixth.

With teams from India, Hong Kong, Qatar and Dubai we have for the first time in MERIT's history no UK based teams.

Lord Mair, President of the ICE and Alan Crane Past President of CIOB will attend the final to present certificates to the finalists, the Silver Salver and the cash prize.

The record shows that, more often than not, the team in first place at this stage fails to become champion, although in the last two years the leading team did go onto win. We have also experienced the winner coming through from sixth place.

Remarkably only 232 points separate the top place from the sixth place. It has never been this close. 232 points can disappear in one round and there are eight rounds in the Final. The Final is more competitive with teams competing against each other as well as the simulation, this generates more turbulence in the rankings.

Given the points score of the finalists and another eight rounds of an even more competitive competition under severe time pressure any team can win. There will be tension, there will be excitement in the battle to come. We look forward to a Final filled with high motivation from all six finalists.

Many teams put in fine performances and we trust all the teams who didn't make the final enjoyed the MERIT 2018 competition and the training experience in company, business and financial management, together with the experience of the need for team work and leadership to deliver disciplined decision making. MERIT has a record of raising aspirations and influencing future training and development as individuals think about what role in the industry they aspire too. The advice in taking part was to think like a director, act like a director. If you liked the role then set out to train to be a director. The industry needs leaders.

 

Click here for the Full results