The Building Podcast
Mark Wakeford is Chairman of the National Federation of Builders, vice-chair at Constructing Excellence Midlands and a Governor at Construction College, Moulton College. He has run a large regional building contractor and now chairs Evoenergy, one of the UK's foremost renewable companies, bringing low carbon solutions to corporate Britain.
Mark talks to leading experts from across the construction sector to discuss issues facing the built environment. He explores various challenges with his guests, who offer solutions, information and ideas that listeners can apply to their own situations, be it in a company, on a project or studying at college.
The Building Podcast aims to provide CPD on the go. Supporting the sector with easily digestible ideas to support a rapidly changing industry!
Episodes
110 episodes
Mark talks to Tracey Elliott
The solar sector is a relatively new sector that is still creating the infrastructure to ensure the competence of its staff. Tracey Elliott, a Director of Eden Sustainable Power, chairs the Skills Group of the industry trade body Solar En...
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Season 3
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Episode 22
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56:54
Mark talks to Jackie Copley
Solar has some big installation targets to achieve over the coming years. In a country that has limited space (land) and a growing population with many competing ideas on what this limited space should allow, solar farms were always going...
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Season 2
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Episode 21
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49:01
Mark talks to James Garner
The fourth industrial revolution is in full swing as the Age of Intelligence affects our lives in so many ways. The construction industry is working hard to come to terms with the forecast changes and the uncertainty that swirls around th...
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Season 1
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Episode 89
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46:47
Mark talks to Renée Preston
Construction sites and those who work in the sector have both changed a great deal over the last thirty years, but the industry still struggles to attract women to fill the much-needed roles, both on site and in the office. The industry f...
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Season 1
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Episode 88
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47:33
Mark talks to Richard Brannigan and Robin Smith
Insurance is one of those ubiquitous items that every organisation in the construction industry has and which every client is ultimately funding. There are only two mandatory covers that are required by law. The first is employee co...
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Season 1
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Episode 87
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1:03:19
Mark talks to Dr Victoria Hills
Dr. Victoria Hills has held high profile roles in a wide variety of differing sectors and organisations. She left being the CEO at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) at the end of last year to take up the top job as CEO of the Chart...
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Season 1
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Episode 86
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52:24
Mark talks to James Fellowes & Chance Bleu-Montgomery
Construction is a people business and it is people who build for people. The industry needs around 250,000 new recruits by 2030 just to stand still and before any of the large programmes that politicians would love to implement. Bus...
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Season 1
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Episode 85
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55:47
Mark talks to Chris Denyer
Procurement is a common theme running through all companies involved in the construction sector. Everyone has to win work one way or the other and whilst the procurement process will vary from client to client, the objectives are broadly ...
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Season 1
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Episode 84
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41:47
Mark talks to Andrew Moore
The global solar sector purchases around 90% of its solar panels from China. In the UK the figure is about the same. Thes panels are mass produced to a high quality and certain manufacturers have worked hard to remove any trace of s...
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Season 2
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Episode 19
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41:05
Mark talks to Alistair Lomax
Construction productivity has been static within the UK market for over 20 years (so we are told) and our clients are facing rapidly changing priorities with climate change and skills shortages within their supply chains. The solution is ...
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Season 1
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Episode 83
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58:07
Mark talks to Colin Marrs
The construction press fulfils a crucial role informing and setting the agenda for change. It relies on providing a service that its readers are prepared to pay for, which should be accurate, unambiguous and timely information on the key ...
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Season 1
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Episode 82
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47:40
Mark talk to Dr Susan Izadkhasti
Directors dictate the culture and the direction of their company. This requires directors to lead their businesses through an appropriate strategy and to manage the day to day with effective processes and communications. Directors a...
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Season 1
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Episode 81
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1:04:50
Mark talks to Liz Male
The UK’s largest industry is home to a large number of people who want to make the industry a better place; improving the outcome for customers, supporting employees or making businesses more resilient in times of great change. The Constr...
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Season 1
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Episode 80
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50:22
Mark talks to Krystle Drover
The UK construction industry plays only a small part global terms, yet our language, legal pedigree and financial stability mean that we can be compared to the worldwide industry. Krystle Drover is an Associate Director of KPMG’s Major Pr...
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Season 1
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Episode 79
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1:00:17
Mark talks to Joe Bennett
Planning Permission is the starting point for virtually all new build and many large refurbishment projects. Unlocking a permission can be long, tortuous and expensive, but it is the only mechanism to let other stakeholders influence what...
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Season 1
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Episode 78
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51:30
Mark talks to Professor Aled Jones
The priorities that have guided construction for centuries are changing. Not only do we have to meet our clients' needs of today, but those needs are likely to change over the life of the building, and our designs and construction need to...
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Season 1
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Episode 77
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50:54
Mark talks to Marion Baeli
The retro-fit market for domestic homes in the UK is enormous. We have some of the oldest housing stock in Europe that accounts for 20% of national carbon emissions. There are 27 million homes, the vast majority of which will requir...
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Season 1
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Episode 76
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50:04
Mark talks to Karen Dobres
Construction is the UK’s largest industry. Football is the country’s largest sport. There are many similarities between the two, one of which is the cultural change that has permeated both areas of our life over the last thirty year...
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Season 1
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Episode 75
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58:00
Mark talks to Simon Evans
The construction industry needs hundreds of thousands to join its ranks over the next decade. These recruits will come from many walks of life, but the vast majority will have to come straight from school or university. Do we know w...
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Season 1
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Episode 74
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45:23
Mark talks to Maria Coulter
Construction businesses are generally small and micro businesses; 98% of companies employ ten or fewer staff and 95% employ five or less. These businesses for the backbone of the sector, providing the skills required for project delivery....
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Season 1
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Episode 73
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51:21
Mark talks to Tony Wehby
The United Kingdom’s largest project is HS2. A project to link London to Birmingham with a high speed train line that can provide significant increases in rail capacity in a highly congested area. There is 140 miles of new track, wi...
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Season 1
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Episode 72
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56:27
Mark talks to Danielle Parker
One of the larger challenges that the solar sector faces in trying to expand its installed generation capacity is winning the hearts and minds of the general public. It is true that the majority of people support their deployment, but it ...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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36:12
Mark talks to Andy Laflin
Construction is a complicated and often challenging occupation, both on site and back in the office. Our smaller, regional main contractors have to deal with all the same legislation and pressures as their larger competitors, but with sub...
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Season 1
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Episode 71
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52:06
Mark talks to Professor Rosa Wells
The Institutes of Technology (IoT) were invented in 2019 to support businesses in England, in technical industries, to find the right new recruits, who were technology aware, capable and competent to join technical businesses. Technical b...
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Season 1
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Episode 70
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36:40
Mark talks to Dr Russell Hall
The role that carbon plays in construction design and delivery is large, accounting for over 40% of UK emissions that the industry is either directly responsible for or which it influences. Reducing it requires new techniques, different ways of...
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Season 1
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Episode 69
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59:59