CM: What was your first proper job?
Rob: Delivering the free local newspaper.
CM: Briefly chart your career to date.
Rob: I studied architecture in Leeds University before joining Waring & Netts Architects as a graduate, where I eventually qualified as an architect.
I then joined Sunderland Council as an architect, where I stayed for three years ending up leading the design team there, before rejoining Waring & Netts. I became a partner two years later and MD two years after that. We renamed the business as space group in 2007, when I became Chief Executive of the wider group.
We now have three companies in the group – _space architecture, BIM. Technologies and Spacehus.
CM: What inspires you to go to work every day?
Rob: The challenge of sustaining a business in the most challenging environment of a lifetime.
CM: Would you say you live to work, or work to live?
Rob: I love what I do. I don’t have a work life balance, just a life balance – I work hard to keep the balance right.
CM: What advice would you give to someone aspiring to your position in the construction sector?
Rob: At the present it is a real challenge and you need to have broad shoulders. The industry is going to go through a sustained period of change so you need to be flexible.
CM: As a construction industry professional/leader, describe your three main qualities.
Rob: The same as the values we promote as a business: caring, different and energetic.
CM: And your worst quality?
Frustration with people who are not willing to adapt to the changes facing our industry.
CM: What has been the most satisfying moment in your career?
Rob: Continuing to sustain our business in such challenging market conditions.
CM: What has been your biggest mistake in the business?
Rob: We probably did not invest in our own property soon enough.
CM: If you could work in a completely different field of business, what would it be?
Rob: I would be a hotel inspector.
CM: What has been the most beneficial development in the construction industry during your time of involvement?
Rob: Building Information Modelling will transform the industry forever.
CM: And the most detrimental?
Rob: Public sector procurement rules.
CM: If you could employ anybody from the worlds of construction or business who would it be and why?
Rob: I know he is no longer around but I would have loved to hear Steve Jobs’ view of the construction industry. He was a big fan of simplicity – not something normally associated with our industry.
CM: What are your aspirations for your business for the coming five years?
Rob: I want us to keep delivering for our clients and developing our people. Hopefully if we keep doing this, the output will be some buildings we can be proud of.
