{"id":529591,"date":"2025-10-07T11:15:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T10:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=529591"},"modified":"2025-10-07T10:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T09:58:09","slug":"from-apprentice-bricklayer-to-boardroom-executive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/sections\/long-reads\/interviews\/from-apprentice-bricklayer-to-boardroom-executive-07-10-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"From apprentice bricklayer to boardroom executive"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been three years since Paul Dodsworth was taken aside at an event and thrown a bunch of keys that set his life on a new path. After years of trying to persuade Dodsworth to join Caddick Construction, owner Paul Caddick made the bold move, telling him: \u201cThose are the keys to my company, I want you to run it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, what do you say to that?\u201d Dodsworth chuckles in recollection. The rest is history.<\/p>\n

Family-run Caddick was founded in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, in 1979 and recently moved to new premises in the city. Last year, the group posted revenue of \u00a3603.6m, up from \u00a3575m the previous year and brought in a 4.8 per cent margin.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Supply chain firms] are what makes us shine as a contractor, so if they are feeling the pain following the collapse of a contractor and we can do something, then of course we will\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Dodsworth<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dodsworth, who has also worked for Mansell and Bowmer & Kirkland in the past, left his post as managing director of Wates\u2019 northern operations to run Caddick\u2019s construction arm, which grew its turnover to \u00a3355.2m from \u00a3317.6m in the year to 31 August 2024. It also made a pre-tax profit of \u00a38.3m, up from \u00a37.4m the year before.<\/a><\/p>\n

Building on his success, Dodsworth has ambitious plans to increase turnover on the construction side. The firm has already secured or completed work worth \u00a3347m for the year to 31 August 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see all aspects of the business growing,\u201d he tells Construction News<\/em>. \u201cI think we have a clear line of sight now to a pathway to 2030 to becoming a \u00a3600m construction business. But we\u2019re not driven by turnover and if we don\u2019t make it by then for all the right reasons we\u2019ll still be very comfortable with that position.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past year, Caddick has opened new offices in Birmingham and Durham, and it plans to expand to an undisclosed location.<\/p>\n

Beds and sheds<\/h3>\n

At its core, Caddick\u2019s construction business focuses on residential, office and warehousing jobs. Ongoing projects in Yorkshire include the \u00a3150m Quarry Hill development in Leeds and a \u00a320.5m warehouse for sweetmaker Haribo in Castleford. On 10 September it also broke ground on a \u00a3250m parcels hub for DPD at Newton Aycliffe, Durham.<\/p>\n

The firm is keen to capitalise on demand from the public sector, being involved in areas from schools to healthcare. \u201cOne of our strategies was to get ourselves on frameworks,\u201d Dodsworth says. \u201cNow we\u2019ve got a government wanting to build [1.5 million] homes, which will be delivered through frameworks, and we\u2019re well set to take advantage of those initiatives around residential. We\u2019re going to build just shy of 2,000 [housing] units this year \u2013 it\u2019s a phenomenal amount of beds to be involved in. Low-rise, we\u2019re going to build about 750.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riding the storm<\/h3>\n

Despite its growth, Caddick has still been affected by industry challenges and macroeconomic pressures. \u201cThe Building Safety Act (BSA) is one, and we had hoped interest rates would come down a bit too,\u201d Dodsworth says. \u201cA lot of the industrial-type jobs, where viability is not quite stacking up, are just sitting there waiting to go. I feel there\u2019s going to be a pent-up need for all this work and it will all come at once, and [contractors] will all be vying for the same supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n

He feels remaining disciplined is key. \u201cLabour rates are rising but materials [prices] have settled down, which is great,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of our contractors and competitors adopt a similar strategy to ourselves, staying disciplined and not just chasing turnover because that is madness, that\u2019s when it all goes wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on profit generation \u2013 that\u2019s not necessarily about us charging our customers more, it\u2019s us being more efficient\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Dodsworth<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With major names such as ISG collapsing last year, there has been uncertainty in the sector. \u201cIt was a short sharp shock for those who were subcontractors \u2013 they\u2019ll either have ridden the waves or haven\u2019t,\u201d Dodsworth says. \u201cThere\u2019s always a contractor or two with a question mark over them. Having a good cash reserve keeps you in a good position \u2013 cash is king.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose that have a [weak] balance sheet may suffer. But let\u2019s hope not, it\u2019s not good or healthy for the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subbies\u2019 lifeline<\/h3>\n

When ISG collapsed last year, Dodsworth took to social media to offer support to his supply chain. \u201cI care about them,\u201d he says. \u201cThey are what makes us shine as a contractor, so if they are feeling the pain following the collapse of a contractor, whoever that may be, and we can do something, then of course we will.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe paid some early, we looked after them, we released retention money back. We just did all the kind of things you do to run your business really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caddick went on to recruit an undisclosed number of ISG\u2019s former employees. \u201cGood people are never on the shelf for too long. We were just pleased to pick [them] up,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Starting out as an apprentice bricklayer in 1983, Dodsworth is also conscious of the need to invest in up-and-coming talent. \u201cWe\u2019re passionate about apprentices and we have 110 across our business. Bringing new people into this is very important,\u201d he says. \u201cWe want to encourage people to stay in this industry. Our staff retention rate is phenomenally high \u2013 we have over 500 people and our longest employee has been with us for 40 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

BSR \u2018handcuffs\u2019<\/h3>\n

Caddick has faced its own issues this year, having to redeploy staff on projects delayed due to the BSA. Mounting delays in processing applications by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has left some projects in red-tape limbo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve submitted three projects for gateway two. The first one is now in its 26th week, bearing in mind the [target] wait time is 12 weeks,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s challenging because you cannot plan. If it\u2019s 12 weeks, [then] it\u2019s 12 weeks. We all know where we are and what we are doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got three projects that should have been onsite this year and they have gone back. What happens to us? Yes, we miss our turnover, but fundamentally we\u2019ve got teams of people who need to be redeployed. That does affect us in terms of our commerciality, and it affects us in our ability to plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to know whether jobs are actually going ahead. We\u2019ve got the government telling us to build houses and properties but then handcuffing us.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlbeit, I understand the ethos behind it because of Grenfell. The sentiment of it we wholeheartedly embrace but the infrastructure fundamentally is not there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the government announced an overhaul of the broken system. The Health and Safety Executive will be stripped of control and London
\nFire Brigade\u2019s deputy commissioner Charlie Pugsley will be appointed as the BSR\u2019s new chief executive.<\/p>\n

Dodsworth is still not convinced the restructure will address the issues \u2013 Caddick\u2019s group turnover has already suffered as a result of the delays.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless they have more people working on it behind the scenes, it\u2019s just window dressing. It needs resolving really quickly,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just the developers taking the hit, so are their construction partners. I really hope the new regime works and gets slicker, but as my gran used to say, \u2018the proof of the pudding will be in the eating\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Running to recladding<\/h3>\n

In 2022, Caddick acquired Speedpanel from facade specialist Speedclad when the latter firm fell into administration.<\/p>\n

Caddick now claims to be one of the top recladding firms outside London, with major jobs such as the \u00a324.5m West Point residential project in Leeds. It has five active cladding contracts and a further three in the pipeline.<\/p>\n

Dodsworth had worked with Speedclad for 10 years before Caddick acquired it. \u201cThey were a good business but got themselves into difficulties,\u201d he says. \u201cTo be able to step in and take it on and give it a good financial sound factor was great and now the business is absolutely thriving. It was a really sensible business move.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whereas some firms try to avoid recladding jobs, Caddick is \u201crunning towards them\u201d, Dodsworth says.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are careful not to be associated with a problematic job but somebody has to fix it and put it right,\u201d he says. \u201cI guess we\u2019re leading the charge and we\u2019re quite happy to take that lead, and we\u2019ve got quite a considerable pipeline of future work doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Margin focus<\/h3>\n

Caddick may look like a booming business, but Dodsworth is conscious there is always room to improve. He would like to build on the construction business\u2019 profit margin, which stands at 2.3 per cent \u2013 less than half of the group\u2019s 4.8 per cent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still not as good as it should or could be,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re focusing on profit generation \u2013 that\u2019s not necessarily about us charging our customers more, it\u2019s us being more efficient making sure we are giving them best value.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really looking internally about our processes and what we can do better. We\u2019ve got a clear plan and we have to stay true to that, but the good bit about Caddick is that it\u2019s very agile as a business and is able to respond to the market and changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the past three years at Caddick, Dodsworth, who is originally from Spennymoor, has no regrets about swapping the North East for Caddick\u2019s Yorkshire HQ.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lovely family business driven by the chairman himself who created it all,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

And as for those keys he caught? \u201cIt turned out they were the keys to his car,\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cBut I loved the gesture.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been three years since Paul Dodsworth was taken aside at an event and thrown a bunch of keys that set his life on a new path. After years of trying to persuade Dodsworth to join Caddick Construction, owner Paul Caddick made the bold move, telling him: \u201cThose are the keys to my company, I …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155153,"featured_media":462414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[570,559],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-529591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-long-reads"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom apprentice bricklayer to boardroom executive | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s been three years since Paul Dodsworth was taken aside at an event and thrown a bunch of keys that set his life on a new path. 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