10 people to watch in 2025

10 people to watch in 2025

3 minutes, 27 seconds Read

Which individuals are likely to have the biggest impact on the industry in the year ahead?

Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon West, was appointed construction minister following Labour’s general election win in July. She served as shadow housing minister between 2018 and 2020, and has been an outspoken advocate for building safety, using her first speech in Parliament to call for tower blocks to be fitted with sprinklers.

Urgent industry issues demand her attention. The Labour government has promised to tackle the issue of late payment for SMEs, for instance.

Jones’ brief also includes green skills, and she is exploring how immigration rules could
be reformed to address construction’s acute labour shortage.

Jones is the 10th minister responsible for construction since 2019 and the 25th since the turn of the century, reflecting the revolving door nature of the role. Time will tell if she bucks the trend.

Chatbots

At CN we know AI isn’t a real person, but the technology is increasingly fulfilling human roles in the construction sector.

So it’s no surprise that the Chartered Institute of Building’s AI playbook, released in June 2024, called for tools like ChatGPT to be “considered with the same level of trust as a brand-new colleague who has offered to complete some work on your behalf”.

Chatbot technology is not perfect. For now, the ‘human in the loop’ is essential to check its accuracy, and there are concerns that users may accidentally share proprietary data.

But tier ones like Balfour Beatty and Skanska UK already use chatbots to streamline operations and boost efficiency. With the technology rapidly developing, the coming year could see new use cases emerge, with adoption potentially spreading further down the supply chain.

Craig Tatton

Craig Tatton took over as chief executive of CN100 contractor Tilbury Douglas on 1 November. Under his predecessor Paul Gandy, the firm made the transition from a subsidiary of ailing contractor Interserve to become a standalone business in 2022.

The new structure saw a positive change in fortune, as Tilbury Douglas went from a £94m pre-tax loss to a £5.8m pre-tax profit in the 2023 calendar year. The firm began 2024 with more than £1bn in its order book.

Tatton, who was promoted from the chief operating officer role, has a tough act to follow in succeeding Gandy.

So how will he maintain Tilbury Douglas’ momentum? One clue is in the firm’s most recent accounts, where he said that the contractor will now focus on regulated industry frameworks. This builds on existing places on frameworks, for example with South West Water and Thames Water.

Mark Wild

Ex-Crossrail boss Mark Wild was named in May 2024 as the first permanent HS2 Ltd chief executive since Mark Thurston departed in September 2023. He officially took up his new position in December 2024.

Wild’s brief is to keep costs down and prevent delays on the high-speed rail project.

It’s a tall order. The opening date for the London-Birmingham line is now estimated to be three to seven years later than its original target of December 2026.

And in October 2024, the government announced an “urgent” independent review into HS2 amid concerns over its cost.

HS2 Ltd chair Sir Jon Thompson said last January that the true cost of phase one will be around £8bn to £10bn higher than the company’s official estimate of £49bn to £57bn.

Wild has a lot on his plate as he attempts to steer HS2 into calmer waters.

Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, has wielded considerable influence since Labour won the general election last July.

Rayner has already announced a revision of the National Planning Policy Framework. She also announced mandatory housing targets to deliver 370,000 new homes annually, with a focus on affordable housing and revitalising brownfield sites.

This might create opportunities for developers, particularly SMEs, to build affordable homes on previously unused land, including parts of the greenbelt  – but it will be interesting to see if this creates tensions around environmental sustainability.

And with Rayner’s broad range of responsibilities – also including a seat on the National Security Council – will her housing brief recei

Read More

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *