Consultants

Philippa Spence is UK managing director at engineering consultancy Ramboll As the late-October start date of the COP26 climate-change summit fast approaches, not since the 2015 Paris Agreement of COP21 has so much been riding on a meeting. This is the decade when the world must change course if we…

Graham Harle is chief executive officer of Gleeds Worldwide With COP26 just around the corner, and following the truly frightening report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sounding a “code red for humanity”, I increasingly find myself talking with colleagues, clients and friends about the climate crisis. Events…

David Cheshire is sustainability director at engineering consultancy Aecom Recent news that the Amazon rainforest now emits more carbon dioxide than it absorbs is the latest worrying sign that we can no longer rely on natural systems to regulate our climate or compensate for our carbon emissions. The onus is…

Jarrad Warhurst is the leader of the UK construction engineering discipline at consultants Robert Bird Group Why is crane strategy left until well after design decisions are made? If the efficient use of cranes was modelled earlier in the process it could accelerate the construction programme, reduce the need for…

Richard Robinson is chief executive officer for UK & Europe at engineering consultancy Atkins We often hear that technology and data will be vital in transforming construction, to improve the sector’s patchy record on major project delivery. Data can enable smarter decisions, increase project transparency and improve predictability, while technology…

Graham Harle is the chief executive officer of Gleeds Worldwide. The greatest long-term challenge to those working in construction is not the current materials shortage, the paucity of available skilled labour, or even cash flow. These are important inhibitors to growth, especially as we come out of the pandemic, but…

For years, tall buildings were a booming part of the sector and tower cranes were a reliable indicator of the health of the industry. But with home working and rural living on the rise, will this continue to be the case? Margo Cole examines whether the pandemic could stem the…

You know when you have had a good idea, because you keep coming back to it. A decade ago, the genesis of an idea took hold. As the new chief executive of the Electrical Contractors’ Association, and new to the world of trade associations, one of my initial aims was…

We are in the midst of a second industrial revolution and this time it is different. Unlike its predecessor from the 1800s, this new era of change is not shaped by swathes of the peasantry leaving their homes in the country for smoke-filled factories in burgeoning cities; instead, it is…

It’s a little over a month since Boris Johnson pledged to “build, build, build”, during a speech that set out the government’s approach to post-COVID economic recovery. The prime minister also vowed to build back “better”, “faster”, “greener” and “bolder”. As chief executive of a design, engineering and project management…