Man with a plan

When he took up the post of chief executive four years ago, it was as head of two organisations – the National Council of Building Material Producers and the Alliance of Construction Product Suppliers. He was tasked with moulding them into one association. "I was told to bring the two bodies together; to create a single body to represent manufacturers and suppliers in the 21st century. Bringing the two together wasn't the difficult part, rather reorganising it in the most effective way."

Ankers spent his first year working on creating the new body. "On 1 January 2000, we had brought the Construction Products Association (CPA) into being with clearly identified aims and objectives."

"One of the first things we decided was that we didn't want the organisation to grow; we felt that it was the right size," says Ankers. However, he instigated a policy of ensuring that membership was through trade associations, rather than companies. This is a smart approach which helped the CPA focus on its own key objectives, rather than being pulled in too many directions at once. The CPA covers a diverse range of sectors – from flooring to ceilings, through to bricks and windows. All of these have their own issues and aims. "We said that the trade associations which are members of the CPA must concentrate on their own issues. We add value by focusing on matters which are best done once, for the whole industry."

This approach is perhaps a reflection of Ankers' knowledge of how government likes to work. He spent his early career as a planner with the Department of the Environment: "At a time when planning wasn't too popular under Mrs Thatcher," jokes Ankers. His experience has taught him that it's difficult for government to hear too many voices from an industry – and not much can be achieved as a result.

But the CPA has managed to have its voice heard at the highest levels. Ankers has achieved this through direct membership of some of the UK's largest construction-related businesses, such as Corus and Hanson. "The chief executives of these organisations can get a hearing from government. We don't promise that we can do everything, but we are at least able to get in front of ministers to make our point," he explains.

The CPA has pinpointed four key aims for itself: to promote increased government investment in the UK infrastructure including schools and hospitals; to ensure that levels of taxation and legislation don't hinder the industry's competitiveness; encouraging greater efficiency from companies in the industry; and creating more products under the sustainable agenda.

"Our approach is asking government to do something for our industry; but we recognise that the industry also has responsibility and so set two goals for ourselves." Ankers is rigorous about setting measurable goals for himself and the CPA team. And he expects the same from government. A recently published CPA report, Achievable targets: is Government delivering? questions whether the government is going to reach its goals for social housing, schools, hospitals and other improvements for the UK infrastructure. It is something about which Ankers feels very strongly. "The UK is bottom of the European league in terms of our infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, and we have been for about two decades." The CPA is calling for government to be clearer about its targets – and how it's reaching them.

The industry responded well to this focused approach. The CPA started with 19 trade association members, and has added 19 more, with others in the pipeline. The CPA now represents 80% of UK construction products manufacturing capacity – £30 billion of output.