The new chair is required to have “stature and respect within the wider construction industry” to “leverage their status and reputation to convene the construction sector”.
The job description adds: “They must be a champion for industry change and promote inclusion, diversity and improving the image of industry, as well as understand future trends and requirements to address industry change, i.e. sustainability, innovation, productivity and skills.”
Crucially, the candidates must “be able to represent the industry as a whole from large to SME, manufacture to aftercare”, which would appear to rule out any executive from main contractors who represent the dominant peak of the supply chain. To date, client-side representatives have been preferred for the role, presumably deemed suitably independent of vested interests. Andy Mitchell was selected for the role in 2018 as the chief executive of Thames Tideway, the organisation building London’s super sewer. His predecessor in the CLC chair was Andrew Wolstenholme, chief executive of Crossrail at the time.
The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) was created in 2013 to work between industry and government to help the UK construction industry become more productive and efficient. It is co-chaired by the minister for business and industry (currently Lee Rowley MP, but many have come and gone over the past nine years) and an industry representative, who provides the overall leadership and co-ordination.
The industry-side co-chair is appointed by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Industry and members of the CLC’s steering co-ordination group, which includes Suzannah Nichol of Build UK, Brian Berry of the Federation of Master Builders, Mark Reynolds of Mace, Graham Watts of the Construction Industry Council, Anne Bentley of RLB, Simon Rawlinson of Arcadis and civil servant Fergus Harradence.
The full job description is available here.
Expressions of Interest should be emailed to construction.enquiries@beis.gov.ukby Thursday 31 March. Interviews will take place in mid/late April and an appointment is expected by the end of April.
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