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
54 episodes
Mark talks to David Frise
The construction industry has hundreds of trade bodies, each representing a slice of the industry and each having to demonstrate value to its members. The Building Engineering Services Association is one of these, but it also acts as the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 54
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46:57
Mark chats to Dave Forde
There are many theories on how to get the best from a team to deliver a project. Most of these start with a focus on forming the right team. What happens on a construction project when the wrong company is appointed and the client i...
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Season 1
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Episode 53
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58:50
Mark talks to Graham Hasting-Evans
FE Colleges and other vocational training establishments are the gatekeepers for the construction industry. They determine the numbers, calibre and quality of new entrants to the sector. They are exposed on one side to the changing ...
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Season 1
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Episode 52
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57:55
Mark talks to Tim Balcon
“The construction industry is a people industry.” It needs people to build projects for people and without these people there would not be any industry. However, these people need to be competent, capable and available in numbers to...
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Season 1
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Episode 51
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52:28
Mark chats to Sally-Anne Hayward
Many of the issues that we face in our construction industry have been, or are, experienced in other sectors and we can often find answers by learning from others. Sally-Anne Hayward is an award-winning comedian and author, who has been w...
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Season 1
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Episode 50
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40:51
Mark talks to Rico Wojtulewicz
The retro-fit market is a huge opportunity for the construction sector. There are some 26M homes to be retro fitted before 2050, and 15M to be retro-fitted before the end of the decade. This is an opportunity for our industry to sup...
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Season 1
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Episode 49
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42:23
Mark talks to James Butcher
The Building Safety Act continues to impact our construction sector as companies and clients further understand their roles in securing the safety of their buildings and the competence of their organisations, their staff and their supply chains...
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Season 1
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Episode 48
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52:07
Marks talks to Richard Beresford
The construction sector is the largest industrial sector within the UK, representing up to 8% of Gross Domestic Product. It directly employs over 2M people, with many more in allied and related service and manufacturing companies. M...
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Season 1
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Episode 47
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36:13
Mark talks to Vaughan Hart
Construction is a people industry, directly employing over 2M people, with many more in allied and servicing sectors. Changes in recent employment legislation, changes in employment practices and winds of change in society at large mean t...
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Season 1
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Episode 46
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48:47
Mark chats to Faye Burnett
The Building Safety Act and associated statutory legislation demands that only competent people and competent organisations are involved in the construction and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure. This is as a direct consequence ...
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Season 1
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Episode 45
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39:24
Mark chats to Sean Houlston
Further Education Colleges are now scored by OFSTED against their employer engagement. This is designed to encourage them to bridge the gap between education and employment that their students must negotiate. It also allows employer...
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Season 1
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Episode 44
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49:15
Marks talks to George Wood
We live in the digital age and every aspect of our businesses relies on IT to enable, do or determine its course of actions. This reliance on IT has crept up on our industry and our reliance has happened without the traditional overview o...
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Season 1
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Episode 43
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51:20
Mark talks to Jason Howe
Construction is a professional business requiring skilled and competent people to design and deliver its product. These skills are created through experience and training. Training is provided by a range of organisations that are re...
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Season 1
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Episode 42
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44:05
Mark talks to Faye Allen
Construction companies are paid to deliver projects in tough conditions where significant risks exist. These conditions and risks inform the culture that exists within our businesses and the wider industry. One of the greater challe...
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Season 1
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Episode 41
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48:59
Mark talks to Ele George
Our construction industry is facing many challenges in meeting its obligation to deliver economic, sustainable projects. Many of these challenges require an evolution of our culture that changes our priorities. Other challenges requ...
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Season 1
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Episode 40
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47:42
Marks talks to Ollie Symons
The Further Education Sector is the mainstay of vocational education within England, training students from 16 years old and providing the basis for long and successful careers within construction and other vocations. It is often misunder...
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Season 1
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Episode 39
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36:50
Mark chats to Scott Kaminski
The Building Safety Act is the most significant piece of construction legislation for a generation. Its reach is far and broad across our sector, driven as it was by the terrible disaster of Grenfell. This disaster highlighted mult...
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Season 1
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Episode 38
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43:48
Marks talks to Ian Bridge
Have you ever wondered how an HSE prosecution works, or how it feels to be caught up in one? Would you know how to protect your position, when there is plenty happening that you are unfamiliar with and under the pressure of an HSE investi...
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Season 1
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Episode 37
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58:11
Mark talks to Dr Caroline Gumble
Dr. Caroline Gumble has been the CEO of the Chartered Institute of Building for nearly six years. She has represented the institute both overseas and in the UK, giving her a great perspective on our relative strengths and weaknesses. ...
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Season 1
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Episode 36
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47:18
Mark chats to Ruth Griffin and Jess Tresham
Construction is a complex world, where every project is a prototype and the supply chain booked to deliver it is both long and often untested. Any wonder then that the contracts that specify our work, anywhere within the supply chain are ...
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Season 1
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Episode 35
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45:15
Mark chats to Polly Harrow
The demand from construction businesses for new people to join the sector in the medium to long term is significant. CITB advise that hundreds of thousands will be needed to service the UK’s largest industry, particularly with the transit...
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Season 1
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Episode 34
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59:22
Mark talks to Rudi Klein
Rudi Klein trained as a barrister before joining the industry as an advocate and militant to promote fairness and best practice. His forty years in the sector has allowed him to represent specialist contractors, fighting for fair payment,...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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46:45
Mark chats to Rylie Sweeney
The construction industry employs over 2M people in the UK. It needs to recruit upwards of 100,000 people every year to replace leavers and fill new roles to meet the demands that are being placed upon the sector. Many of these recr...
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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37:40
Mark chats to Richard Evans, Blair Whitehurst and Matt Rushmere
Construction is the UK’s largest single industry and one that is endlessly changing and variable. There are generally plenty of issues to keep us busy and focused on the known unknowns. However, it is worthwhile taking a step back e...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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44:46