All Interviews articles – Page 31
-
FeaturesCherry on top
Alan Cherry is the ambassador of housebuilding – the multimillionaire chairman of Countryside Properties has the ear of a number of policymaking bodies. And as we find out, he’s not afraid to speak his mind.
-
FeaturesLaurence Llewelyn-Bowen
Don't be fooled by the foppish style: Britain's favourite interior designer is set to have a say in the way we build entire towns. Which may be of interest to Prince Charles … we find out more.
-
FeaturesMr Conservative
Linford Group chairman David Linford is taking drastic action to help plug the heritage skills gap, such as building a new training centre, swapping workers with firms abroad – and even recruiting in primary schools.
-
FeaturesCecil Balmond
He doesn't recognise fixed systems of order, closed symmetries or assumptions of hierarchy, and sees structure as connective patterns. Man's clearly a bounder. We try to talk some sense into him.
-
-
FeaturesNigel Griffiths
A skills crisis, worrying accident rates, controversial contracts in post-war Iraq and a promotional mission to Brazil: our minister has got a lot on his plate. In fact, if you're interested, he could probably pop round one evening and take you through it. Say next Thursday? We try to keep ...
-
-
FeaturesIn Person: Dennis Lenard
Trust an antipodean to want to turn everything upside down. But the new chief executive of Constructing Excellence thinks that's what we have to do to change the industry's image – and he's starting with a fundamental review of his own organisation. We spoke to the man who thinks Australian.
-
FeaturesThe ideal architect
His years in the wilderness preaching weird hippie stuff like "sustainability" turned Richard Feilden into a bit of a prophet. All very well, but how does that fit with running an ever more successful commercial practice? We found out.
-
FeaturesDreaming of England
A project in Japan made a Spaniard and an Iranian the UK's hottest young architects. But for all their international pedigree, what husband-and-wife team Foreign Office really want is to design the London Olympic Games.
-
FeaturesFrom Birmingham to Basra
One minute he was a QS in Birmingham, the next he was dodging Scuds in Iraq. Territorial Army lance corporal Craig Barker spoke to us about food rations, Saddam's yacht and keeping cool.
-
FeaturesA run for his money
Nick Brooke likes a challenge – the serial marathon runner once ran a record-breaking 127 miles in 24 hours. Well, as RICS president he’ll need all his puff to pacify the institution’s members. He tells us about the need for increased subscription fees and going global.
-
FeaturesComeback kid?
Down Kenneth Clarke may be, out he certainly isn't. The man who claims to have invented PFI is on bullish form and ready to take on contractors, civil servants, bankers – oh, and the Labour government, of course, for messing up his big idea.
-
FeaturesDavid Pretty
Barratt is Britain's best known housebuilder – but not always for the right reasons. Here its new chief executive tells us how he intends to preserve the firm's legacy, and silence some of its critics.
-
FeaturesKeith Hill
Only a month into the job and the housing minister has absorbed the government's line about having a 'vision' for urban regeneration. But when it comes to expounding the finer policy points, he seems less sure of himself.
-
FeaturesDavid Ridley
He's almost 60 and he's spent 30 years turning Faithful & Gould from a local into a global firm, so you might think he'd be ready to take on something really difficult. And you'd not be wrong …
-
FeaturesDermot Gleeson
The chairman of MJ Gleeson may look like he's sitting pretty as he takes over the hot seat at the Major Contractors Group. But the question everybody's asking is, can he stop its members from leaving?
-
FeaturesThe leveller
Julie Mellor, chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, has construction's lousy record of recruiting women in her sights. But she's not out to give the industry a bashing: she has more subtle ways of making it see sense
-
FeaturesHow low can he go?
Famed for an audacious, but failed, bid for Tay Homes, Country & Metropolitan boss Stephen Wicks had better luck with his acquisition of NorthCountry Homes. Now he's championing rock-bottom sale prices and planning his next buy. Josephine Smit met him.