Interviews: Construction News Talks by Top Construction Industry Figures

Bridging the skills gap via further education

Ben Vogel — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 08:46:06 +0000

The further education (FE) sector has a role to play in addressing the retrofit skills shortage. But as MidKent College curriculum director Jane Le Poidevin (pictured) says: “The retrofit landscape is so challenging. I think the sector’s a long way from meeting some of its…

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Mace CEO: ‘Govt more interested in small boats than homes’

Will Ing — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 06:00:30 +0000

Mace chief executive Mark Reynolds has accused the government of being “more interested in small boats than homes for people”. Reynolds, who is co-chair of the government-sponsored Construction Leadership Council alongside business minister Nusrat Ghani, said “the government has lost its love for construction”. In…

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Steady as she goes: Skanska’s new boss on a brighter outlook for women in construction

Will Ing — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 11:20:32 +0000

Skanska’s new chief executive talks to CN about continuity, being a female chief executive and using AI to work smarter, not harder If you switch on the television in the middle of the night, flick to an obscure channel and find yourself watching a repeat…

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‘Pandora’s Box’: Behind the cladding crisis with L&Q

Ben Vogel — Wed, 10 May 2023 05:50:56 +0000

L&Q safety boss Pete Paton reflects on a gargantuan effort to make tower blocks safe amid the ‘known unknowns’ of secondary legislation arising from the Building Safety Act Six years after the Grenfell tragedy, the key priority for large housing associations such as London &…

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Demolition sector ‘will reduce in size’ over next decade

Joshua Stein — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 05:50:36 +0000

Demolition contractors should undertake more retrofit work as demand for demolition is likely to decrease, the outgoing chief executive of the sector’s trade association has said. Howard Button (pictured), who has led the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC) for nearly 20 years, said demolition…

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Switch from tier one to the regions ‘refreshes’ Caddick MD

Joshua Stein — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 05:50:43 +0000

Caddick Construction managing director Paul Dodsworth talks acquisitions, expansion and the ‘rodeo horse’ of price inflation Caddick Construction managing director Paul Dodsworth may have been in the job for almost nine months, but the “agility” of working at a regional contractor was still springing some…

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National Highways: poorly performing contractors barred from bidding for work

Ian Weinfass — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 06:50:00 +0000

National Highways is “extremely likely” to stringently assess the performance of suppliers on its new £30bn major framework, the roads body’s head of procurement has said. In an interview with Construction News about the forthcoming Integrated Delivery Framework, Malcolm Dare (pictured) said the client had…

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Tolent founder reflects on ‘tragic’ collapse of £200m contractor

Will Ing — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 06:50:23 +0000

Tolent founder John Wood reflects on the company’s highs and lows, and explains why his sons have taken on the failed firm’s Teesside operations When contractors go bust, a newly appointed administrator makes the same announcement: it was COVID-19 that did it. And material prices…

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Tilbury Douglas boss on how the firm will be ‘sticking to its knitting’

Colin Marrs — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 05:50:58 +0000

Paul Gandy, chief executive of Tilbury Douglas, exclusively tells Colin Marrs that his firm is back on track after the turbulence surrounding its time as part of Interserve Group Paul Gandy relishes a challenge. Three years ago he became managing director at Interserve Construction, the…

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Costain boss: ‘UK needs infrastructure secretary’

Luke Haynes — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 05:50:16 +0000

The government should appoint an infrastructure secretary to ensure stronger leadership on nationally significant projects across the UK, Costain’s chief executive has suggested. Speaking to Construction News, Alex Vaughan said a dedicated senior minister in the role would help to “join up” different government departments…

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