Construction leadership

Are you a likeable leader and should you be?

The culture of leadership has changed significantly in recent years. While there are some leaders that still hold to traditional autocratic styles, and swear by them. Most prefer an alternate approach, engaging with their teams in a way that empowers and motivates. In general, studies […]

Negotiation – how sharp are your skills?

Applying for a new job? Asking for a raise? Closing a contract for a major framework? Submitting a bid for a tender? All of these tasks involve elements of negotiation, and yet these aren’t skills that most people consciously develop. They just become part of […]

No break for Construction – and it’s not a bad thing.

There has been a fair bit of backlash from industry bodies on the government’s industrial strategy that was announced recently. Construction has been left out, and as far as the industry is concerned this is a glaring omission considering the emphasis that was placed on […]

Resilience infrastructure Ellis Fox Blog

Developing skills to lead infrastructure projects

This past week one of the major headlines was the delay of planning permission for the Lower Thames Crossing project. It’s not the first delay, and likely won’t be the last either, and it’s frustrating for all involved. Already more than £300 million has been […]

Are we looking for productivity in the wrong places?

In the construction industry we talk so much about skills – or the shortage thereof. We talk about productivity – and the lack thereof. And we talk about technology and the snail’s pace at which it has been adopted. The problem is that despite all […]

What does construction and infrastructure need from the new government?

With the election just days away, political parties are promising many things. More investment in energy infrastructure, upgrades on rail and roads, fast tracking planning permissions. These promises are great, if they were to actually mean anything. Unfortunately, few are backed up by concrete targets […]

Skills to develop at any stage of your career

The best type of career development happens organically – where you discover an area of interest and seek to expand your knowledge in it. Indeed, there are industry trends that highlight where opportunities exist. Such as in renewable energy, infrastructure resilience and modern methods of […]

What will be the most sought-after skills in 2024?

2023 has been a year of many disruptions and it’s impacted construction and infrastructure sectors in multiple ways. The one thing that has remained a constant though, is the skills gap. Companies continue to struggle to acquire top talent for multiple reasons. Sometimes they don’t […]

CEO skills – what does it take to get to the top?

This week Balfour Beatty announced that their Construction Chief, Mark Bullock will be retiring in December and that they’re on the hunt for a replacement. Those will be big shoes to fill. Balfour Beatty is one of the largest main contractors with a better than […]

Earth Overshoot Day – What can construction be doing differently?

The last time that human consumption of natural resources equalled the capacity of what the planet could provide was around 1969. Since then, it’s been a steady decline. The average size of vertebrate population species has declined by 68% while the human population has grown […]