Managing Director Construction

The Brief

HB Reavis retained our services to recruit a Managing Director – Construction to run the in-house construction management arm for their UK business. HB Reavis are one of Europe’s largest office developers, and are establishing themselves in the central London market with a number of major developments. This was a senior role reporting to the UK CEO, requiring a candidate to lead a growing construction management team, developing their construction delivery operating model and a unique approach in the highly competitive market for major office developments in central London.

The Process

HB Reavis are taking an alternative approach to most London developers; bypassing main contractors to self-manage tier 2 and tier 3 specialist contractors. Due to this bespoke approach many candidates currently working within London developers did not have the necessary construction management knowledge to be able to undertake the role.

We focused on identifying suitable candidates with extensive experience within large commercial developments in London for both main contractors and the few developers with in-house construction management arms.

HB Reavis were not widely known in the UK market and candidates did need to be extensively briefed in the businesses’ unique approach and background. The company was relatively new to the London market and recruiting at a time when salaries were rising and there was strong competition for talent.
However, because the remit of the role to build an in-house construction arm was attractive to candidates working at larger businesses (where they had less strategic input) we were able to shortlist five credible candidates.

The Outcome

We were successful in recruiting a Director of Construction
with experience working for both a leading developer and main contractors, including a landmark £multi-Bn development. This was a great outcome in recruiting a high-profile known name in the London construction market to our client’s business.

Knowledgeable and experienced within the market. Understood our bespoke approach and was able to adjust their approach to suit the desired skill set we were seeking. Jim is very approachable and clearly has an excellent pool of contacts, allowing him to actively headhunt to suit whatever the need may be. Should we look to hire at top level again, I would not hesitate to contact Jim again.

HB Reavis’ UK HR lead