The Building Podcast with Mark Wakeford
Mark Wakeford is Chairman of the National Federation of Builders, Strategy Director of the Global Solar Council and Chair of the West Midlands Solar Taskforce. 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!
The Building Podcast with Mark Wakeford
Mark talks to Dr Olga Kozlova - Oxford University
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Send a Text - Feedback Welcome
The rate of change that businesses face continues to increase. Whether this is due to technology from iphone to AI, Covid-19 and the rise of the mental health challenge, wars in Europe and the Middle East, or climate change. Each issue demanding an intelligent and definitive action from corporate and industry leaders. One essential solution is innovation, innovation in products and services and innovation in process and culture in how we run our businesses.
Dr. Olga Kozlova is the Director for Innovation and Engagement at Oxford University. She works on the interface between Government, Industry and Academia and is one of the leading lights on how to generate and then benefit from new ideas. She is also responsible for promoting the ideas that Oxford University and other universities in the Arc between Oxford and Cambridge and making them commercially viable.
Listen to this podcast to hear the importance of leadership and collaborative management styles to enable a culture of risk-taking that fosters innovation. Dr. Kozlova talks about the need for entrepreneurs within a business, coining the term intrapreneurs for those who will improve businesses from within. Once the culture is right some of the best ideas will come from staff trying to make their processes work effectively. Dr. Kozlova encourages networking to better understand the wider context in which your business operates and the ability to join dots that such exposure can generate. She also explores the fundamental importance of listening to you customers. They are the ones that pay the bills and who you need to be able to support to make them more efficient and effective.
The podcast finishes on the importance of education and training communication and risk taking within our schools. Dr. Kozlova believes that businesses need to take control of these interactions, with support from Government.