Mild-mannered and courteous, Reeder is described by many in the industry as a safe pair of hands. His appointment followed the resignation last October of former chief executive Malcolm Bairstow. And he took the helm at a troubled time for the construction manager. Its reputation received quite a battering in 1999, with a number of clients saying they had lost confidence in the company after its involvement in three difficult, high-profile lottery projects.
A quantity surveyor by profession, Reeder spent more than 20 of his working years with Wimpey, mostly in the Middle East. He joined the board of Schal in 1995 as part of the Wimpey/Tarmac assets swap.
He is widely credited with delivering the controversial 拢220m refurbishment of the Royal Opera House on time. He was sent in to troubleshoot the project 18 months before its completion and impressed everyone who worked with him with his running of it. 鈥淢ostly, he brought clarity,鈥� says one insider. 鈥淗e was very good at cutting through problems and finding solutions. He pulled the job out of the fire.鈥�
After a long recruitment process, which saw Schal鈥檚 parent Carillion interview a number of big hitters outside the company, Reeder was appointed. Many believe that he was offered the job because the Carillion board feared that a number of Schal鈥檚 senior staff would leave if an outsider were appointed, and the industry view of Reeder is that he has been brought in to steady the ship rather than take it into new and more interesting waters. In short, he is a solid, rather than an innovative, manager.
Reeder allows himself a wry smile before disagreeing with the description. 鈥淚n principle, I probably am a safe pair of hands,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 true that I don鈥檛 make snap decisions; I like to review things first. But in terms of shaking things up, I am doing that. I鈥檝e got a lot of new ideas for Schal.
鈥淚鈥檝e already changed the way the board operates and there will be other changes. I鈥檝e told some of our more senior directors to be more outward-focused. They should be out there talking to clients more and finding out exactly what it is they want from us.鈥�
Reeder is anxious to draw a line under Schal鈥檚 troubled recent past but he is not afraid of facing the issues raised by its involvement in three of the UK鈥檚 most high-profile projects. Many in the industry felt that Schal had taken on too much with three undeniably difficult projects: the opera house, Tate Modern and the Royal Court Theatre refurbishment. However, like Edith Piaf and Norman Lamont, Reeder has no regrets.
鈥淧eople are aware that we built the opera house and the Tate, and we鈥檒l get kudos and publicity for that,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲e always end up talking about those projects to new clients and they always say to us that they are terrific jobs. I think that鈥檚 a big benefit to us .鈥�
Going through each of the three projects individually, Reeder brushes off criticism of Schal鈥檚 involvement. 鈥淎s far as the Tate goes, anyone who has seen the television show will see we had problems. But it鈥檚 nothing more than would be expected on any large project on an existing building. We were also dealing with a set of very artistic clients. But it鈥檚 finished on time and looks great.
鈥淵es, the Royal Court was late. But, at the end of the day, it鈥檚 a superb job and our relationship with the client is tip-top. It is over the moon with what has been achieved there.
鈥淪ure, we had problems on the opera house, but it all went very well in the end. Anything that went wrong, big or small, got publicity because it was such a high-profile job. But it鈥檚 a superb building now and, on the whole, the project went very well.鈥�
Talk of the opera house and Tate Modern inevitably brings up Stanhope鈥檚 name 鈥� it project managed both jobs, and its director, Peter Rogers, famously claimed that Schal had lost its ability to manage large schemes.
It鈥檚 true that I don鈥檛 like to make snap decisions; I like to review things first. But in terms of shaking things up, I am doing that
Reeder was working with Rogers on an almost daily basis at the opera house. Did his very public attack on Schal make working together more difficult? Again, Reeder allows himself a slight smile before answering. 鈥淲ell, I wasn鈥檛 happy about it. But we didn鈥檛 believe or accept his comments and it gave us that extra bit of determination to get the bit between our teeth and prove him wrong by finishing the job. But, as far as I鈥檓 concerned, it鈥檚 all water under the bridge now.鈥�
Essentially a private person, Reeder is happier talking about Schal and its future than about himself. Beyond mentioning that he took a year off work while in the Middle East to organise the Dubai Rally, Reeder keeps his personal life filed in a separate cabinet drawer to his working life.
For some in the industry, Reeder鈥檚 weakness is that he lacks technical expertise.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fair point,鈥� says Reeder. 鈥淚 do need a good bits and pieces man, but I鈥檝e got people close to me that have the detailed building skills I lack. Clients have the dream ticket.鈥�
Reeder鈥檚 vision for the future of Schal includes improving its margins over the next two years, partly through internal efficiencies 鈥� not a euphemism for job losses 鈥� and partly through providing a better service that will ensure clients keep returning to Schal.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want Schal to be the biggest CM company in the UK. I want it to be the best,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd we鈥檒l achieve that not by bidding for every job that comes in the door, but by building relationships with existing clients, ensuring we understand what they want.
鈥淢ore than 50% of our work is repeat business with key clients like Sainsbury鈥檚, Standard Life, BP and Nokia. We鈥檝e got 拢130m of work on line at the moment and it鈥檚 all from repeat clients. That says a lot about how clients see us.鈥�
The recent move to forge closer and more public links with Carillion is also part of Reeder鈥檚 overall strategy to provide a better service than its CM competitors. 鈥淥ver the past 10 years, CM has been about 10% of the construction market, but nowadays, pure CM is less than that. The product is changing, and companies like us, with the backing of Carillion, are able to offer clients lump-sum price security. That鈥檚 part of the reason why we鈥檙e lucky having Carillion at the back of us.
鈥淏ut also, I look at Carillion and think 鈥楥hrist, what a wealth of expertise and resource there is available for us to tap into and use for the benefit of our clients鈥�.鈥�
Reeder is also keen to expand Schal鈥檚 project management portfolio. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an area we haven鈥檛 capitalised on and one we should expand. We鈥檙e doing some, most notably the World Square project (Foster and Partners鈥� design for a revamped Trafalgar Square), and the refurbishment of St George鈥檚 Hall in Liverpool, as well as other public sector work. But we want to build on that and do more private sector work.鈥�
And, despite the negative publicity from those high-profile arts projects, Reeder is also keen to do more schemes like the Royal Opera House, Tate Modern and Royal Court.
鈥淲e鈥檝e probably done more work for the arts sector than any other contractor in the UK.
