Infrastructure heavyweights Mark Wild and Kay Hughes join Building the Future Commission

Former Crossrail boss Mark Wild and HS2 design director Kay Hughes are among the latest big names to sign up as commissioners for the ambitious Building the Future Commission. Wild, who is now chief executive of natural gas distribution firm SGN, will advise primarily on the ‘infrastructure and planning’ strand of the commission, alongside Hughes.

The Building the Future Commission will launch in January to find solutions to the construction industry’s underlying problems such as poor productivity levels, an ageing workforce and the need to spend more on research and development.

The commission will produce a report to be published at the end of 2023. This will be drawn up with the help of a panel of commissioners who are leading figures in the worlds of business, policy, research and education.

Lara Oyedele, president of the Chartered Institute of Housing and chief executive of training organisation Black on Board, joined the commission this week, with a particular focus on workplace, culture and inclusivity.

>> Click here for more about the commission

Other commissioners signed up so far include Lord Kerslake, former head of the civil service and current chair at Peabody, Richard Steer, chair of Gleeds and Emma-Jane Houghton, commercial director at New Hospitals Programme (see full list below). More commissioners will be signed up in the coming weeks.

The 12-month project marking Building’s 180^th anniversary will look at proposals for change in eight areas: skills and education; energy and net zero; housing and planning; infrastructure; building safety; project delivery; workplace culture and leadership and creating communities.

Building the Future will also undertake a countrywide tour of roundtable discussions with experts around the regions as part of a consultation programme in partnership with the regional arms of industry body Constructing Excellence. It will also set up a young person’s advisory panel.

See also: Mark Wild interview ‘why Crossrail will be worth the wait’

See also: HS2’s Kay Hughes: ‘we see ourselves as catalysts for creative thinking’