Interviews

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 contractors are well-placed to capitalise…

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 surprises, he said. Dodsworth (pictured)…

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 already started excluding poorly performing…

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 inflation. Supply chain issues. Labour…

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 contracting arm of Interserve Group,…

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 working on large-scale schemes. Vaughan…

Mace chief executive Mark Reynolds may be the new face of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), but he is no stranger to the work of the group. He has been involved in the council since 2017, when he was chosen to head up the CLC's skills workstream. Reynolds' new role…

Offsite specialist Merit is concentrating on delivering high-tech buildings and medical facilities, as MD Tony Wells explains to Adam Branson

Sometimes doing the right thing pays off in ways that could not have been predicted. Such is the case with Merit, the North East-based offsite manufacturing and construction firm. In early…

Bill Hocking explains the firm's strategy, post-pandemic, to Lem Bingley, and gives an insight into the type of business the company is striving to be

We meet Galliford Try chief executive Bill Hocking in early April, in a freshly refurbished office that sits a short walk away from London’s Liverpool Street…

“This is just the start,” says Peter Baker, chief inspector of buildings at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), on the Building Safety Act’s recent Royal Assent. “The act is very complex and very comprehensive,” he explains. “But it is primarily an enabling piece of legislation […] It will have…