Own The Build

This week, Paul is joined by Dale Sinclair, the Head of Digital Innovation at WSP . Many of you will know WSP, but if you don’t, WSP is one of the world’s leading engineering professional services firms, with 42000 employees across 40+ countries. In today’s conversation, Dale explains the term ‘Kit-of-parts’ and its relevance to us in the construction sector. Across the conversation, Dale explains...

This week, Paul is joined by Chris Ritson, Senior Risk & Uncertainty Consultant at Safran , a software company building a unified project management solution to help organisations confidently tackle complex capital projects. Chris is an out-and-out risk expert, and Paul wanted to interview him to fully understand the difference between how a Risk Manager and a QS manage risks and what QS’ coul...

This week, Paul is joined by Ian Hepstinall , an Associate Professor in Project Management at the University of Birmingham, a coach, an advisor, and the Author of the Executive Guide to Breakthrough Project Management. Ian is a firm believer in changing the industry. In this conversation, he shares his slightly radical thoughts on changing the industry’s mentality and approach to project managemen...

This week, Paul is joined by Tim Danson, Technical Director of Sustainability at WSP in the UK. Many of you will know WSP, but if you don’t, WSP is one of the world’s leading engineering professional services firms, with over 60,000 employees across 40+ countries. In today’s conversation, Tim talks about how in 2022, humans used a year’s worth of the earth’s resources in just seven months and how...

This week, Paul is joined by Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign , Media and Comms Lead for the think tank Autonomy and former advisor to the Shadow Chancellor. Joe is leading the campaign for a four-day, 32-hour working week with no loss of pay, which he argues would benefit workers and employers. In this thought-provoking conversation, Joe lays out the benefits of the 4-day working wee...

This week, Paul is joined by Angela Mansell, Managing Director at Mansell Build , one of the UK’s longest-established and most experienced sub-contractors in the field of SFS, plastering, partitioning, dry-lining and rendering. In today’s conversation, Angela describes her experiences of how main contractors generally treat sub-contractors - what works, what doesn’t work and how she would change t...

This week, Paul is joined by Simon Robinson, a Quantity Surveyor and the Director at Subport , an Award Winning Quantity Surveying Consultancy Supporting Subcontractors to secure their profits. In today’s conversation, Simon and Paul debate how to improve the relationship between Main Contractors and Subcontractors. Across the episode, we discuss how Main Contractors can better manage Subcontracto...

This week, Paul is joined by Patricia Haywood , the Director and Commercial Lead at Haywood Consulting, a construction consultancy leveraging contracts to drive profits. Patricia is a lawyer, QS, adjudicator, mediator, and much more. In this highly insightful episode, Patricia and Paul debate what “getting the contract right” means for Main Contractors and how this is different for subcontractors....

In this landmark episode, Own the Build has a first in having three special guests in the studio. Paul is joined by Katie Hathaway (Head of Business Engagement and Communications), Natalie King (Operations Director) and Nicola Bird (Managing Director) at AccXel , the UK’s first industry-led, co-funded construction school. In this funny and heart-warming conversation, Katie, Natalie and Nicola talk...

This week, we’re doing something a little different. As we approach a century of episodes, Paul reflects on five moments from the Own the Build catalogue to date, which he feels he personally extracted the most from, and thanks all the Own the Build listeners for their ongoing support - without you, we’d be nothing! If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, leave us a review or feel free to get in...

This week, Paul is joined by David Nash, the Director of Strategy and Policy at The ECITB , a non-departmental public body supporting training and skills development across the engineering construction industry in England, Scotland and Wales. At the show’s beginning, Paul shares a story about a client struggling to resource a QS. Perhaps this is something your business is experiencing right now? I...

This week, Paul is joined by Ross Griffin, the Founder & Chief Commercial Specialist at KOSMOS , which provides specialist commercial management advice to the Nordic & Irish construction industries. Paul and Ross talk about their experiences working as Quantity Surveyors outside the UK and Ireland and how other countries perceive the profession. Ross is a big believer that the role of the...

This week, Paul is joined by Jo Lucas, Director of Co. Cre8 , a consultancy enabling thriving project eco-systems through knowledge, networks, and behaviours and also by Gareth Evans, the CEO at Smart Procurement Solutions , a consultancy that positively disrupts the status quo of construction procurement. In an exceptionally insightful conversation, Jo and Gareth talk about the fragility of const...

This week, Paul is joined by James Major, the Founder of Hubb.pro . HubbPro is an AI-Powered Platform Revolutionising The Design Of Low Carbon, Net-Zero Homes. James is a genuine M & E expert, and he is here to tell us how to procure and manage M & E packages. M & E packages are often the most complex, challenging and risky packages to deliver on a construction project, and James is a...

This week, Paul is joined by Charlene Colas, the Founding Managing Partner from Bespok Construction Consultants . Charlene is an Advisor in the Built Environment and a genuine enthusiast on AI, Blockchain and the Crypto-Economy.  Charlene tells us how Blockchain technology will change the future of construction; she explains how you can prepare for it; and why you should be excited. In this entert...

This week, Paul is joined by Mark Herbert who is a Construction Insurance expert from Construction Insure . Mark takes great pride in educating clients on their needs and why they need certain policies to cover their builds and companies. In this highly insightful episode, Mark provides thoughtful advice on managing the Final Account Process, given his many years of supporting construction compani...

This week, Paul is joined by Michael Downes, a Solicitor/Construction Expert at Gordons LLP , a law firm from Yorkshire. In this highly insightful episode, Michael provides thoughtful advice on managing the Final Account Process, given his many years of supporting construction companies through the process. Paul and Michael discuss best practices, common pitfalls and, in general, how best to manag...

This week, Paul is joined by Neil Boothroyd, an Adjudicator, Mediator, Arbitrator and Quantum Expert Witness at Gateley Vinden , which is a multi-disciplinary quantity surveying consultancy.  In this fascinating chat, Neil explains how more and more disputes are being resolved by Mediation and why he thinks this is a good thing. Neil talks about his experience with Adjudications and Arbitration, h...

This week, Paul is joined by Heather Evans, a Partner and the National Head of Sustainability at Rider Levett Bucknall , a Global Construction and Property Consultancy.  In this entertaining conversation, Heather explains how Quantity Surveying can survive the upcoming AI revolution in construction and not become extinct by linking cost and carbon.  Heather’s experience is that cost consultants ar...

This week, Paul is joined by Diego Padilla-Phillips, Technical Director and Net-Zero and Decarbonisation Lead for WSP in the UK. Many of you will know WSP, but if you don’t, WSP is one of the world’s leading engineering professional services firms, with 37000 employees across 40 countries. In this fascinating conversation, Diego explains how skyscrapers are changing, how they will look in the futu...

This week, Paul is joined by Martin Paver, CEO and Founder of Projecting Success , a passionate team of visionaries, project managers and data scientists on a mission to change how we deliver projects.  In our conversation, Martin explains that we’re at an inflexion point in construction and AI/Machine Learning and how project teams will look very different in the future.  If you are a QS, this is...

This week Paul is joined by Dr Mark Key, a Chartered Construction Manager, Building Engineer, Author and Researcher. Mark has just written a book on behalf of the Institute of Civil Engineers titled “Building Regulations, Codes and Standards”.  In this thought-provoking episode, Mark explains where we are with Building Regulations, how to work with the current system, and how to start thinking abo...

This week Paul is joined by Tom Hawkins from FTI consulting , a Global Consulting firm. Tom is a Quantity Surveyor and Quantum Expert Witness for Construction and Engineering Industry Matters. In this conversation, Paul and Tom discuss a recent report highlighting the primary reasons construction companies get into a dispute, how to avoid those disputes and best practices in general. This is a mus...

This week Paul is joined by Joe Gooden, Head of Broking (Structural Warranties) at Build-Zone . They are one of the UK & Ireland’s leading providers of Structural Housing Warranties & Latent Defects Insurance.  In our conversation, Joe explains the difference between patent and latent defects, the importance of structural warranties, and the pitfalls of using a non-A-Rated insurer. I learn...

In this episode, Paul is joined by Linden Dover, Co-Founder and COO at Weaver – an expert in the construction tender space for homeowners – to investigate how main contractors can better manage the tender process and, moreover, how they can spot clients who are timewasters.  Weaver is a mobile app that matches main contractors to vetted residential projects. Weaver checks that homeowners are tende...