Heâs the boy from Bradford, done good â a âtough as nailsâ business leader who built the Shard and steered Mace to become one of the UKâs most prestigious multidisciplinary construction firms. So what happened when Stephen Pycroft was given an on-stage grilling by șĂÉ«ÏÈÉúTV editor Sarah Richardson at șĂÉ«ÏÈÉúTV Live? Joey Gardiner reports. Photography by Dean OâBrien
If thereâs one figure in UK construction that fascinates the industry, almost on a par with Ray OâRourke, then itâs Mace executive chair Stephen Pycroft. The former Bovis project manager, who started his career as a site labourer, has presided over a period, since taking over from Bob White in 2004, in which Mace has grown tenfold, and transformed from a construction manager to one of the biggest contractors in the land â among many other things. Last year his firm, which encompasses fixed-price contracting, consultancy, construction management and facilities management, and works across both building and civils work, at home and overseas, turned over ÂŁ1.49bn and it is well on course to hit its ÂŁ2bn turnover target by 2020. Recent months have seen the builder of the Shard mop up a string of high-profile jobs, including that of main construction partner on Tottenham Hotspurâs ÂŁ400m new stadium.
Itâs fair to say majority shareholder Pycroft is the antithesis of the smooth City-friendly corporate managers that run many big builders. Passionate and tough, he has a reputation as a hard taskmaster who is not averse to using the occasional verbal hairdryer to pull people up.
One of Pycroftâs biggest clients says: âA born leader, very honourable and tough as nails. People are scared of him because heâs direct, but heâs one of the best people we deal with.â
So there was little competition when deciding who to ask as the keynote interviewee for șĂÉ«ÏÈÉúTVâs inaugural șĂÉ«ÏÈÉúTV Live conference last week. And Pycroft himself, seemingly keen to dispel any notion he might have retired since passing the chief executive baton to Mark Reynolds in 2013, took little time in accepting the challenge. But, given his straight-talking reputation, it was hard to know how heâd react to an on-stage grilling. șĂÉ«ÏÈÉúTV editor Sarah Richardson put the questions, and below are the highlights of a much more revealing exchange than anyone could have expected.
PYCROFT ON ⊠the market
Sarah Richardson: How are you finding the market at the moment?
Stephen Pycroft: Anybody in the room not seeing the market going up and up right now is not in the right business. But thereâs a major question mark at the moment that, 18 months from now, is it going to be sustainable? Thereâs a nervousness that says, two years from now, can we see these major projects going through. Thatâs what Mace is questioning right now. Which projects should we pick, where should we aim for 2019-2020 â is it [the market] there? Thatâs where we concentrate the target now.
Youâve got to hand it to [the Chinese], theyâve worked it well. Theyâre coming and theyâre going to get stronger and stronger
Pycroft on Chinese contractors winning work in the UK
SR: So is there any area in particular that youâre looking at?
SP: Most people are concerned at where the residential market is going â is it softening? What is the spend profile [on projects] over about ÂŁ1,000 per ft2? If one or two resi jobs drop off, will that send a ripple effect? You look at if the Chinese market is going to stall, is that going to affect investment in the UK? Russiaâs in turmoil. So you go what is it going to do? If one or two jobs do stop then is that going to remove the confidence? And you know itâs all about confidence in London. Weâre now talking about south of Watford, still up north thereâs very little major construction going on.
Even abroad, the likes of Qatar with the oil price reduction, thereâs a reduction in major pipelines of work. Even in Dubai thereâs a constraining of projects coming through, which worries us, as a global company.
PYCROFT ON ⊠Chinese contractors
SR: As how much of a credible competitive threat do you see Chinese contractors?
SP: Theyâre coming, the Chinese, and they will be credible. Most people that know me know that I was a bit annoyed to say the least that we lost One Nine Elms to China State and Interserve.
The clever thing they [Chinese developer/contractors] do [is that] when they bring Chinese finance, they expect a Chinese contractor to come with them. And with a Chinese contractor they expect Chinese materials as much as possible. Youâve got to hand it to them, theyâve worked it well. Theyâre coming and theyâre going to get stronger and stronger.
Weâre not going to stop it. The question is how the hell are we going to adapt, as Mace, to compensate for it. Because I think a Chinese contractor must buy a major contracting organisation in the UK, to give themselves credibility in the UK market. At the moment theyâre winning all the work, where a Chinese funder is there. Soon theyâll just buy somebody and then theyâll be a mega force to be dealt with.
SR: Are you talking Mace or someone else?
SP: Not Mace. It was rumoured they looked at Balfour Beatty. But I think itâs only a matter of time. It wonât be Mace, by the way.
PYCROFT ON ⊠whoâs in charge?
When the red mist descends and I lose my head and people get a few verbals, itâs because weâre not doing what weâve promised. And thatâs when I get tough
Pycroft on his âtoughâ reputation
SR: Youâre executive chairman of Mace, so how hands on are you, and whoâs really in charge?
SP: Mark [Reynolds is] the chief exec and he runs it day to day. Iâm there to support him and give him strategic direction. I love it when people say âStevie, I thought youâd retired, I thought you were taking it easy.â Far from it. My view is that I help Mark strategically, and I work with clients and help deliver construction projects. Iâm personally involved with a number of projects where Mace has challenges. Mark may be guided occasionally.
SR: That sounds pretty hands on to me.
SP: Yes. Thatâs what I like doing. Most clients, when they get Mace, they expect a hands on board director.
SR: What happens if you disagree?
SP: If Mark and I disagree itâll be in a private room where the two of us have a debate. And whether heâs right or Iâm right, weâll both agree thatâs the way forward, because we can never show any disconnect outside of that room.
PYCROFT ON ⊠getting tough
SR: You have a reputation for being very tough, particularly early in your career. Have you mellowed?
SP: Itâs not about being hard. I think I expect, and clients expect of Mace, that people do what they say theyâre going to do. If you say youâre going to do something on the tin, do it. When the red mist descends and I lose my head and people get a few verbals, itâs because weâre not doing what weâve promised. And thatâs when I get tough.
Iâm straightforward and itâs very easy â youâve said youâre going to do something, [so] do it. And if you donât do it, get ready to get your head chopped off because weâre not going to mess around. This is not a lightweight game â weâre dealing with lots of money and reputations. And Maceâs reputation is built on doing what you say youâre going to do. And at times I get really annoyed when we fail to do that. The expectation is step up. People who work with me get an easy ride if they do what they do and do it well. If they donât, well, be careful, because itâs not going to be pleasant. And thatâs in a light manner without the expletives.
PYCROFT ON ⊠suppliers
SR: You have an initiative with your suppliers, Mace Business School, that I think Mace presents as a CSR benefit. Iâm aware there are some people who object to the fact they have to pay fees to be a part of this and see it as a way for Mace to make money off its supply chain. Whatâs your response to that?
You know what? Weâve done what we said weâd do. Weâve been instrumental in helping the UK deliver the Olympics And weâve delivered the Shard
Pycroft on his proudest moments
SP: Weâve had this on a number of occasions and we say if people donât want to be members of the supply chain or the Business School then donât be members. You know what, thereâs an expectation again that people are trained in what they do. And thereâs one thing in this industry we donât do, is train our people. So we set up this academy to try and train our suppliers for two ends really. One, if they can do their job better, plan it, organise it, manage it better, know how to write a method statement, a risk assessment, a lifting plan and all this other bureaucracy that seems to have crept into this industry â it would make it easier for our managers on site. So our view is join the club, take full advantage of it. And by the way, if we want to tweak an individual programme to get the best for your industry, then weâll do it. Those people who embrace it, and want to learn and improve, never question it. There are those people that say we never get on the Mace supply chain because we donât pay the business school fees ÂŁ30,000 a year or whatever it is. And we ask: âWhat other training would you do?â If someone said weâre not going to pay the business school, but we spend ÂŁ150,000 on training our own staff then weâd say fine, love it.
SR: Do you reinvest all of the fees or do you profit from it as a Mace business?
SP: We reinvest this money in the business in some way shape or form. In better programmes, in better training. If the company gets better, and we win more and we do more projects, then all our supply chain should benefit.
PYCROFT ON ⊠Maceâs structure
SR: You have a lot of different businesses within Mace. Is that a model other contractors should follow?
SP: Having internal businesses does cause internal conflict at times, especially if you set up separate P&Ls under businesses. Itâs constantly under review. Especially if you set up businesses within companies that then can charge other parts of the business and try and make a profit. At Mace, [when the] snowâs falling, the turkeyâs on the table, Christmas is coming, [it means] the structureâs going to change. And even this year now weâve gone, âletâs forget all this internal charging, letâs get back to some basicsâ. So itâs always under review. It has its upsides. Our Mace M&E company has done great and dug us out of a few holes. Weâd have done really badly if we hadnât had them around us. On other occasions itâs got too messy and itâs caused more admin than we need. So we said scrap all the internal charging, itâs all as one.
SR: Will that remain the case?
SP: Thatâs been a nine-month programme with EY, the Simply Better progamme. Because you can never stand still â an age old saying is donât believe your own PR. If you start to believe your own PR, that youâre one of the best, youâll start going backwards. Weâve got to start improving. Everyone in contracting in one way, shape or form knows you can always deliver projects better. I said to someone in the pub last night: marks out of 10 for Mace? Iâm a hard marker, by the way. I said Mace are about four out of 10 at the moment â thereâs lots of room for improvement, lots of ways we could be delivering projects better. Luckily enough a lot of our competition are at the three or four mark as well.
PYCROFT ON ⊠his best moment
SR: Whatâs your proudest moment when you look back?
SP: In 2001 I bought this company off Ian Mac[pherson]. Ian Mac said: âStevie, I need a few quid and you take it over.â We sat about and said we want this company to be good.
Ultimately, in 2012 I was at the opening of the Olympics: I had Gerald Ronson, I had Irvine Sellar, I had [John] Ritblat and few others around me. And I thought: âYou know what? Weâve done what we said weâd do. Weâve been instrumental in helping the UK deliver the Olympics with Laing OâRourke and CH2M Hill, and weâve delivered the Shard, which was a mega achievement for me personally.â And then we hit the ÂŁ1bn mark. And Iâm thinking: âBoy from Bradford. 2001. 2012. It canât get much better than this.â Youâve got to prick yourself sometimes and look back and say: âWow, isnât this great?â
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