‘Benny’s enthusiasm for construction was completely infectious’

By Iain Withers2022-07-27T10:57:00

As a rookie reporter Iain Withers scooped an interview with the then-retired McAlpine director Benny Kelly - here he remembers “construction royalty”

Benny Kelly was completely larger than life – I had the privilege of interviewing him when he retired, for a retrospective on his career.

As a very green reporter, I ended up cold calling his mobile and asking him whether he’d be up for it. It seemed a long shot – the venerable contractor Sir Robert McAlpine was notoriously secretive, they didn’t do interviews.

But to my (and my editor’s) surprise, he agreed to do it. Freed of constraints perhaps – running the show for McAlpine’s biggest projects from the Emirates to the London Stadium – he was ready to sit down and reflect on an amazing career.

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