Professional Profile
I have worked in the Construction Industry for over 40 years & consider myself a true construction professional. I have operated at Director level for 15 years, with the Kier Group & Balfour Beatty. My core strengths include leadership of people; developing skills at all levels; & producing individuals & teams capable of achieving remarkable results.
“People are at the heart of everything we do. With the right attitude, guidance & leadership, nothing should be considered impossible; sometimes it might just take a bit longer!”
Background
I commenced work in the construction industry as a trainee engineer & developed a skillset over time. I spent over 25 years on front line delivery; on projects with values ranging from £500k to £210 million. I have worked in all the major Scottish cities & also spent 4 years working in the South of England & the London Area. My notable achievements have been delivering high quality projects on time, with a strong Health & Safety ethos & robust controls in place.
Notable Projects
The New Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
I worked at NRIE from 1997 to 2002. I planned, organised & set up the new site from the outside, preparing extensive Environmental Impact Studies & Plans, ahead of setting up the New Site Establishment, ultimately for over 1000 Operatives & 200 staff. My vision for the end product & how to get there cannot be understated; & my understanding of people & getting the very best out of them is an excellent quality. At NRIE I was responsible for the construction delivery, with 5 Teams with a total Staff of 75. I integrated with M&E Services colleagues & jointly delivered a “state of the art” New Acute Hospital, initially with around 750 in-patient beds. The project was delivered to a Very High Standard, on Time & to Budget.
Eastgate Shopping Centre, Inverness
The project involved the complete replacement of the External Cast-stone Facades, with Reconstituted Granite Blocks; Pre-cast Exposed Aggregate Panels; Polished Granite Plinths & Lead & Panel Facias. A total of 6000m2 of Vertical Facades were replaced, ranging in height from 5.0m to 22.0m. Access for demolition & rebuild were particularly challenging with Buttress Scaffolds; Through Tie & Anchor Scaffolds; Bridging Scaffolds over Roadways & Entrances; served by Rack & Pinion Hoists & Telescopic Handlers. A refurbishment & extension of the Shopping Mall was undertaken in tandem, involving major demolitions & structural alterations, to extend the Shopping Centre. The New Terrazzo Feature Flooring is still in existence today, after more than 25 years.
Construction Sectors
I have worked across all construction sectors including Education; Healthcare; Industrial; Commercial; Hotel Refurbishment & New Build; Student Accommodation; Retail; Defence & Public Residential Housing. Projects have included complex RC Frames; Steel Frames; Composite Structures; Exposed Laminated Timber Frames & Modular Construction.
Notable achievements were working at the Grangemouth Petrol-chem Complex delivering the New Control Building for the Kineill Terminal Expansion Project for BP; and working at a Whisky Bottling Plant at Leven; extending & upgrading the Vat Room & undertaking extensive structural strengthening & over cladding to the Building Façades, for United Distillers (Diageo).
This was then followed by delivery of the Refurbishment of 18 buildings at Redford Infantry Barracks, Edinburgh, over a period of 60 weeks.
Future Plans