Construction Productivity Conference

The persistent ‘productivity puzzle’ in the UK construction industry was a central theme at this year’s Construction Productivity Conference. Senior leaders from Laing O'Rourke, Skanska, and Sir Robert McAlpine, among others convened to examine long-standing productivity challenges, explore data-driven insights, assess the role of technology, and discuss necessary industry changes along with strategies for effective implementation. Held at 30 Euston Square in London, the conference provided attendees with the opportunity to gain insights from industry experts, engage in meaningful discussions and establish valuable professional connections. Conference Chair, James Rowbotham from Landsec said: “Development today is still as challenging as ever, but we have the opportunity to change that. We have a relatively stable political environment, a government that is driven to achieve economic growth, and a willingness from policymakers to work with our sector. “Now, it is up to us to demonstrate that we can contribute to that growth by improving our own productivity. And based on everything I have seen and heard, I believe we are more than capable of doing just that.” Were you at the Construction Productivity conference? Leave your thoughts on the event in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you! #ConstructionProductivity #ProductivityPuzzle

What a fantastic start to the year! On January 28th, our events team proudly hosted the Construction Productivity Conference 2025 - an event that brought together industry leaders from every corner of the construction world to discuss one critical goal: ‘Getting Britain Building Again’. This dynamic event sparked powerful conversations on efficiency, innovation, and the strategies that will shape the future of construction productivity. It was inspiring to witness professionals collaborate, network, and exchange ideas that will drive sustainable growth in our industry. A massive thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making this event a huge success. #ConstructionProductivity #Networking #FutureOfConstruction

It was a pleasure to Chair and speak at the Construction Productivity Conference yesterday. We covered a huge amount of ground and by the end of the day I was exhausted but genuinely enthused by the ideas shared and the realisation that we are capable of revolutionising the effectiveness of UK Construction. With economic growth number 1 on the Government's agenda and challenging economic times ahead of us, never has it been more important for everyone in the construction sector to work collaboratively to improve productivity. It will help improve the financial resilience of the supply chain, improve development viability and increase development activity - all of which will help us deliver economic growth. Thank you to everyone who spoke and participated in the day including: Hannah Vickers, Simon Rawlinson, Campbell Middleton, Vassos Chrysostomou, Graham Winch, Jaimie Johnston MBE, Anthony Impey MBE, Grant Findlay, Brian Morrisroe, Katy Dowding, Cliff Smith, Sam Ward, Birgit Biemans, Mark Worrall, Dick Clerkin, Trudi Sully Thank you also to Landsec and Be the Business for giving me the platform to Chair the Construction Productivity Taskforce alongside incredibly talented leaders in the industry at Skanska, Mace, Sir Robert McAlpine, Lendlease, British Land, GPE, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to help improve productivity in construction. (https://lnkd.in/eUcp83zC)

Yes, it was an very interesting event, particularly for moving beyond the obsession with off-site production.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not one to blow smoke, but the Construction Productivity Conference I attended yesterday was definitely one of the most insightful events I have attended in a long time. At a time when Offsite/MMC dogma is positioned as the solution to any and every problem in the industry, it was refreshing to hear from academic experts Campbell Middleton, Simon Rawlinson and Graham Winch who gave a more balanced and pragmatic perspective on the challenges faced. Expertly chaired by James Rowbotham and with valuable contributions from the likes of Hannah Vickers and Mark Worrall, it was a shame that the event wasn't better attended as I really learned a lot. Get yourself there next year!

Really looking forward to Chairing the MMC Ireland National Conference in March - final Speaker Programme to be announced next week and it is shaping up to be a superb event!👊🏻 This will sellout just like it has the past two years so book your tickets early - details below 👇 #mmc #offsite #innovation

Perhaps the most rewarding moments I’ve ever experienced in my journey of learning software development is when functionalities deliver their intended output. I’d assume the feeling of seeing my code come to life is only comparable to parenthood. Discovering Neuralink made me realise the immense responsibility we have to direct technology to first make a better world and then to indulge in whatever we might think could beautify it or make it more enjoyable. When I first read about the Ukrainian software engineers who turn civilian-use drones into military equipment I felt the urge to rewatch ‘The Imitation Game’. Revisiting a film or a book after years teaches us so many things about ourselves and how we can outgrow our perception of the world around us. Now, it revealed the power of a complementary skillset to fulfill a goal or an ideal while being far from the frontline. I first interacted with the built environment as Editor in Chief of Real Estate magazine in Romania in 2016. My heart stayed with the built environment ever since, guiding me to enroll in my Licence Professionnelle in the Development and Preservation of Cultural Heritage when I started from scratch in Nice. Back in Romania, Civil Engineering was the toughest BSc to get into (alongside Medicine) so a career in constructions was out of the question, being reserved for actual geniuses. After Neuralink and the Ukrainian software engineers, basically every biotech startup promising to cure cancer relying on data reasserted the belief and hopes that if there’s one sector I want to ever serve through code, that would be the built environment. A dear friend I made at construction networking events once told me about the joy of telling your kids ‘Daddy built this’ everytime he passes by his previous works. A new (I hope) friend who’s into restoration says he tells his children how castles were sick but daddy brought them back to life. If someone is anyhow aided by my work to build something, I guess I made my contribution to a better world. Yesterday, attending the Construction Productivity Conference, I had the privilege to receive insightful perspectives over the limitations software developers have to consider if aiming for personalisation solutions dedicated to the build environment. However, approaches on value, resource efficiency, scale, and complementary tech tools still offer sufficient inspiration. Thank you so much for the extremely valuable keynotes: Hannah Vickers , Jaimie Johnston MBE , and Sam Ward I am also grateful for the friends I met along the way (in a chronological order): Ellie Guest , David Malcolm , Dr Mila Duncheva MCIOB Doug Forbes , and Chris Oldham

The Construction Productivity Conference yesterday re-confirmed to me that we can really impact productivity in construction through people, process and technology. Here are my key takeaways: * Trust and culture change: Building trust among our people, supply chain and customers; fostering a culture of continuous learning * Educating our people, clients, designers, suppliers - the whole value chain - on the impact of working together early (please see Private Sector Playbook): to focus on buildability and productivity; thinking about process, people and technology * Focused apprenticeships and education - creating new apprenticeships and focusing on education both upstream and downstream to improve workforce skills * Industrialised Design and Construction practices; which can really drive improvements in health and safety. * Product-Based Building Solutions: Implementing product-based solutions that offer 30% savings in time and labour by standardising invisible components while customising visible ones. This would be a huge culture change in the industry but would result in so much benefit. We are already doing this in areas such as MEP but can do more * Simplifying/standardising design and promoting DfMA as a process that integrates design with building: leading to more efficient construction methods and repeatability so that we can mitigate the upcoming skills shortage and identify skills that we need to invest in more * Supply Chain Integration: early integration of supply chains to develop designs together before locking them down for site execution. The Building Safety Act may positively impact this * Benchmarking and Measurement : encouraging industry level benchmarking so that we can plan better, deliver on time and use AI to rapidly improve * Data Literacy - ensuring the value stream really understand data and how to analyse it to improve current production and plan future production better Thank you to all the speakers and panellists. Especially proud to see Katrina Dowding, our CEO, outlining what needs to change in the industry. Great to see *Campbell Middleton discussing data and the work that we have been involved in with the excellent Danny Murguia as part of the Construction Productivity Taskforce * Mark Worrall highlighting how we need to integrate people, product and process levers to deliver value and productivity * Jaimie Johnston MBE and Sam Ward discussing industrialised design and construction. I especially liked Jaimie's Ikea Billy bookcase example and Sam's car configurator example * Brian Morrisroe sharing the supply chain view on the panel and to discuss how to involve our supply chain in training development with him Thank you all! Disclaimer: all views are personal and my own #constructionproductivity #nationalproductivityweek

Tackling the productivity problem 📈 Hannah Vickers, Global Head of Advisory at Mace is a keynote speaker at tomorrow’s Construction Productivity Conference. Driving productivity improvements across the construction sector is vital to the resilience of our industry and perhaps more pertinent currently to driving economic growth, whether through capitalising on offsite manufacturing or innovative commercial approaches to delivery. Strong advisory is crucial to achieving this, supporting clients in making the best decisions around investing to maximise productivity, reduce risk exposure and increase delivery confidence. Hannah recently wrote about this very issue in Utility Week, responding to Kier Starmer PM’s call to regulators to support his mission to boost economic growth, which you can read here: 🔗https://lnkd.in/dwb7JUkd. Come and listen to Hannah’s speech at 9:25 am, and visit the Mace stand for more detail on the value of strong advisory for your programmes. #MaceConsult #MaceUK #BusinessAdvisory

Catch me at the Construction Productivity Conference tomorrow! I'll be exhibiting to promote the Skyline Taskforce's new Skyline Skills Hub - our industry co-created, free and interactive resource for green skills best practice - https://lnkd.in/eXjKvmHS A HUGE thank you again to Ellie Guest for coordinating 🤝 #SkylineSkillsHub #ConstructionProductivityConference #SkillsforaSustainableSkyline #greenskills #construction