Jennifer Clark, director of sustainability, Skanska UK
As we start a new year, we are reflecting on what type of company we are, what our purpose is and what we’re building for. We build for people, their health and happiness, and sometimes designers and those involved in construction forget this. As a business, we are going to be focusing on health and mental health, tackling the issue with our own staff and the projects we work on in the coming year. On a personal level I want to not only give money to charity but more of my time.
Gordon Sinclair MCIOB, planning manager, O’Hare & McGovern
I see the coming year as being a great time for growth and development within the construction industry. The change in stamp duty will give the housing market a welcome boost and encourage more spending throughout the sector.
Personally, I look forward to being involved in some new and exciting contracts and developing new skills in all areas of work. I plan to continue promotion of the CIOB and the Northern Centre, to develop new skills and pass my experience onto others. My wife would just like me to complete some of those DIY jobs around the house. This year!
Sajeesh Nair MCIOB, senior project manager, Cranbrook Basements
I have just achieved MCIOB accreditation, so this should open up a lot of avenues for me. I will use this on a business level as it adds a lot of value to our production team. The market is very busy and we have the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects with a wide range of people. The boom in construction and the increase in funding in the historic sector will also give the business a boost as we work with a lot of listed properties. It’s looking like it will be a very positive 2015.
Geoff Wilkinson ICIOB, managing director, Wilkinson Construction Consultants
From a business perspective we’re anticipating a 20% growth in the next year. We are starting to see a return to good health in the industry outside of the hotspots of London and the south-east, and we are picking up work in areas where we’ve seen no activity in the past two years. We are also seeing the inklings of a return to health for the retail sector. As workloads increase the problem will not be finding work, but being able to resource it. The biggest challenge for the industry in 2015 will be recruiting skilled people.
Michael Levey FCIOB CENN, retrofit project manager, Grosvenor
I am looking to continue building environmentally intelligent and aware properties. In 2015 we aim to refurbish five more houses to Passivhaus EnerPHit standard throughout the estate. These houses are being refurbished for the rental market and I will be very interested in seeing whether the rental value outperforms similar properties that have not been refurbished to Passivhaus EnerPHit.
In the wider industry, like many, I have concerns over the skills shortage. This will have a significant impact on everyone but the initiatives implemented by the government are in my opinion, inadequate and wrapped up in red tape. Companies, particularly SMEs, really need to focus on training staff. There is an opportunity in 2015 for companies to set up training plans, so when things pick up they will be better positioned.
Lee Kyson, MCIOB, director, Kyson Construction
I am really hoping that the consultancy side of my business takes off in 2015. I find this work much more rewarding, it gives me more freedom and of course I’m able to charge more for my skills. On the building side I am getting a lot more enquires from a higher calibre clients and more interest from architects.
I only got full membership this year (MCIOB) and this will be very helpful in the future. I’ve already noticed at meetings that the accreditation means people have faith in me straight away.
I was asked to be an NVQ assessor so am currently completing the relevant training course and will be assessing trainee tradespersons in 2015. As the construction industry becomes more attractive I think more people will enter training, which is needed as it’s getting hard to find skilled workers at the moment.
