Interviews

Read interviews with leading figures from the UK construction industry.

Vistry: the story behind the biggest construction merger for a decade

New Galliford Try CEO seeks continued growth

Vistry chief operating officer Graham Prothero tells David Price how he’s made the shift from CEO of a contractor to COO at a housebuilder and how an old business partnership led to the biggest housing sector merger for more than a decade

The CEO interview: how Mace wants to use tech to shape the country

Mark Reynolds CN Summit 2014

Mark Reynolds has been thinking, and he is keen to discuss what kind of business Mace is. “The power of data is unbelievable,” he says. “I met with my board on Friday and I said to them, ‘we are a sustainability and data company. We just happen to do great…

TClarke: how the M&E firm plans to double its turnover

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TClarke began investing in growth as soon as the pandemic hit the UK last March and that has set it on course for the future, its top two executives tell David Price.

How Imtech plans to sidestep the downturn

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In September – three years after it bought the company – French giant EDF’s takeover of Imtech became absolute. The energy firm, part-owned by the French government, installed Gautier Jacob as chief executive in place of the retiring Paul Kavanagh, who’d been at the electrical contractor for 17 years. Jacob,…

COVID is a ‘wake-up call’ for the industry – John Morgan talks to CN

John Morgan chief executive Morgan Sindall

Morgan Sindall CEO John Morgan thinks COVID-19 has been a “wake-up call” for the industry, with restrictions forcing a reassessment of how businesses operate and leading to improvements. Morgan spoke to Construction News following yesterday’s trading update that revealed the company would beat an earlier full-year pre-tax profit forecast of…

Wates CEO: construction has had a ‘good crisis’ despite job losses

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Wates chief executive David Allen tells Ian Weinfass why the sector has thrived despite the crisis it faced in 2020, how this will help solve the skills shortage, and how he plans to grow his firm through its residential work

YouTube – the next solution for our talent gap

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Fred Mills, the co-founder of a construction YouTube channel with one million subscribers, talks to Construction News about how the industry can attract more talent

Why Morrisroe’s demolition takeover couldn’t be delayed

Brian Morrisroe

A global pandemic might have struck during a critical point of the acquisition but Brian Morrisroe was unmoved. The boss of the concrete frame specialist that bears his name was conducting due diligence on his company’s purchase of demolition contractor Cantillon when the COVID-19 virus sent the country into lockdown.…