好色先生TV

How did you get into construction?

At university I did this town and country planning course and I really enjoyed the property and construction modules on it so I thought I鈥檇 pursue them.

But when I knocked on the doors of construction and property companies in Birmingham I found I was up against folk with degrees dedicated to the field and mine was seen as unrelated. Then my luck changed: I had an interview with Faithful + Gould (it was called Silk & Frazier at the time). The people there asked me: 鈥淵ou haven鈥檛 got a degree in this. What do you know about it?鈥� I said: 鈥淣ot a great deal, but I鈥檓 a keen learner.鈥� I somehow landed a job from that.

As an assistant QS?

Yes. I had to do another degree part time, which is the last thing you want to do when you鈥檝e just finished a full-time degree. That took about two years, then F+G appointed a director to start up a project management department. I had decided I wanted to be in property, so I knocked on his door. The guy had been there, like, a day. I said I wanted to get involved and he asked me a familiar question: 鈥淲hat do you know about this?鈥� I said: 鈥淣ot a great deal,鈥� and he said: 鈥淩ight 鈥� you鈥檒l have to do an MSc in project management.鈥� So I did.

How did you end up working for a developer?

F+G was appointed project manager and QS on the Mailbox, which was being developed by the Birmingham Development Company, and I was seconded there. After a while, I was at home one day and the phone went. This voice said: 鈥淚 hear you鈥檙e on the transfer list.鈥� I hadn鈥檛 got a clue if it was work-related or if I鈥檇 just been chucked out of my Sunday football team. It turns out it was one of the directors of the Mailbox. We met up and I joined them straight away.

Was it a difficult decision?

At the time it was one of the biggest risks I鈥檇 taken. I was leaving a massive business to join a small team. I had bills to pay and I thought, is this going to work? But I jumped at it because I knew I wanted it, come what may. It turned out to be the best thing ever.

How did you come to be the boss of a contractor at 29?

The Mailbox opened in 2000, but we were focused on getting all the tenants sorted out with refits until 2004. That鈥檚 when we started the design competition for the Cube 鈥� although obviously we didn鈥檛 know it was the Cube until Ken Shuttleworth won it.

We were working in a really heated market. Contractors were charging big risk premiums and unless you were building stuff they were comfortable with, you鈥檇 struggle to get good people. Five of us from the Mailbox team set up Build Ability as the contractor subsidiary of Birmingham Development Company.

After a few weeks of getting stuck in with the design, I thought, this is fantastic. I鈥檇 forgotten what this was like after working on the Mailbox for so long.

Being so young, how do you command respect from more experienced co-workers and clients?

I think people respect two things. First, the fact we鈥檙e delivering something different. We鈥檝e got some serious players who have been in the industry a number of years, but they don鈥檛 know all the answers because of the nature of the projects we鈥檙e doing.

There鈥檚 a strong social side. Seven of us have formed a band called The Cubes. It鈥檚 unusual when you wrap up a meeting and someone gets a guitar out 鈥�

The second thing is hard graft, especially in the early part of your career. You have to work three times as hard because you鈥檙e trying to learn the basics and get a step ahead. So it鈥檚 a case of putting the hours in and working as long as it takes to make sure that if you don鈥檛 know the answers, you at least know the questions.

Who are your heroes and why?

Sir Alf Ramsey, for taking the English football team to victory in the 1966 World Cup. Also, Alan Chatham and Mark Billingham 鈥� I admire them as the two founding directors of our company. I鈥檝e learned a lot from them and they gave me a shot in the first place.

Girls Aloud once stayed at Malmaison at the Mailbox, and phoned to ask if they could use our office for a GMTV interview. I had to let them in literally first thing after we鈥檇 been on a big night out celebrating a deal. I got put down as a bit of a Girls Aloud fan after that.

What makes Build Ability different?

As a development company we always paid an overhead on profit to a contractor. Now we have exactly the same set up but 60% of that profit goes to Build Ability鈥檚 staff, so effectively they鈥檙e shareholders. I think that ethos makes them feel like more than just a number. There鈥檚 also a strong social side. Seven of us have formed a band: Me, Alan and five of the lads from [German subcontractor] HAGA. We鈥檙e called The Cubes. It鈥檚 unusual when you wrap up a meeting and someone gets out a guitar.

Any gigs lined up?

We鈥檙e playing at a party for the project team soon. We were going to do it in this space directly beneath the BBC recording studio in Birmingham. However, the day we did a soundcheck and started blasting away, the BBC came running and said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to do the news and all we can hear is Take It Easy by The Eagles.鈥� We need another venue because you can鈥檛 really call the news off.

The Cube will be finished in 2010.

What鈥檚 next?

I鈥檒l definitely stay with Build Ability for a while yet, but I鈥檓 hoping to spend more time back on the development side. We want to do half a dozen projects in the next 10 years, and we鈥檙e already looking at two sites.

It鈥檚 a good question, though. Alan Chatham was looking back to his Brindleyplace days and saying everyone said to him: 鈥淲here do you go after Brindleyplace?鈥� Then the Mailbox came up and it was the same. Everyone always asks us: 鈥淲here do you go after that?鈥� Then the Cube comes along and people are already asking how you top that.

How does it feel being able to put up all these new buildings in Birmingham?

That鈥檚 one of the things that genuinely makes me want to do it 鈥� the fact that you can put these things in a city where you walk around with your kids or your grandkids. That鈥檚 what鈥檚 great about the industry; you鈥檝e created something special.