Management Board

SECBE Chairman since January 2020; term ends January 2025. Until his recent retirement, Chris was Chief Executive of the CIOB. Chris graduated from Wolverhampton gaining valuable financial experience with Dunlop, Birmid Qualcast, Mitel, W Canning, Corgi Toys and GKN. 

He has 27 years of senior management experience in vocational education incl. 6 years as CEO of North & Mid Cheshire Training and Enterprise Council based in Warrington. His major achievements as CEO of CIOB include overhauling the organization to recreate financial robustness, modernized working practices and governance arrangements, and introducing the Chartered Construction Manager designation for members. 

The CIOB developed Trustmark with DTI and other sector trade bodies  in 2005, Chris joined the All Parliamentary Group for Built Environment Commission on the new homes ombudsman and led sector work to highlight then tackle Modern Slavery in the construction industry. He was as made an OBE in 2017 for services to the construction industry and government.

Bola is an Independent Management Consultant, Chartered Construction Manager, Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS); offering independent, multi-dimensional construction cost management consultancy and construction project & programme (including asset) management solutions, since qualifying in 1999.

Bola graduated from the University of Wolverhampton in 1994, the first black student to ever receive a Double First class with Honours, with a thesis subject matter that [spoke of AI, ML, BIM] and was considered ahead of its time. In almost 30 years, Bola has successfully procured and delivered, in excess of £8billion in capital projects across the UK, in an array of sectors, with extensive public sector procurement and contract management experience.

An eminent Fellow of the RICS, Bola is also an acclaimed Gemini Ambassador [acting on behalf of the Centre for Digital Built Britain; #CDBB] and recent co-author of the Digital Twin Business Case Toolkit; published in joint partnership with techUK, in February 2021. Bola is a well documented industry disruptor, serial curator and innovative Systems Level Architect, delivering ‘Digital Twin’ solutions, using #ConTech and #PropTech platforms. He is an industry thought leader and specialist practitioner in the Digital Construction [#ConTech], Smart Legal Contracts, Blockchain, Built Asset Assurance, BIM, Technical Compliance and Whole-Life Cycle / Asset Management solutions space [the latter using #PropTech] in a SaaS capacity.

Malcolm is Chairman and Managing Director at Baxall Construction with over 40 years construction experience.

As a well-known and respected name across the industry, Malcolm was a key figure with the National Federation of Builders (NFB) with whom he has progressed from local membership to National Chairman. His active involvement has included representation at National and European Government levels and ongoing support for SMEs and localism. Malcolm joined the Board of SECBE from 2018-2021 and was instrumental in proposing and supporting the IFLP.

At operational level, Malcolm promotes exceptional standards, a customer-focused culture and collaborative team approach to each and every project, leading by example and encouraging the same. Malcolm’s commitment to industry best practice, determination and championing change is particularly evident in his proactive leadership of a number of initiatives, including modern methods of construction, sustainable carbon reduction, safety best practice and staff development.

David is a specialist construction lawyer, with over 30 years’ industry experience, and partner based in the London office of national and international law firm Hill Dickinson LLP.

David acts for developers and owner/occupiers, main contractors, specialist sub-contractors and professional consultants. His expertise and client service is also reflected in instruction by other law firms, who do not have that expertise, on behalf of their clients.

David advises on appropriate procurement strategies for construction (new build or refurbishment fit out works) and engineering projects and across many different sectors, including health, education, commercial, hotel/leisure and renewable energy. More generally, he advises on and negotiates proposed contract terms, bonds and guarantees, joint venture agreements, novation agreements and collateral warranties, at both tender and contract award stages.

Helen is the Chief Solutions Officer, responsible for Process Improvement, Technology, Procurement, Infrastructure & PMO. Previously, she was the Procurement Director at Heathrow Airport, where she was responsible for the strategic sourcing and execution of all third party spend. During the COVID pandemic, her previous role, which looked after c£1bn of operational and capital spend, focussed on new procurement strategies across their supplier base to save money in the short term whilst maintaining long term value and relationships and ensuring Heathrow’s longer-term ambitions around Sustainability, Diversity, Innovation and Technology are not compromised.

Helen has been with Heathrow for 12 years and prior to her role in Procurement, she has spent her career in construction. Joining Heathrow in 2009 as a Senior Project Manager, Helen has grown through the organisation first becoming a Programme Director, then the Programme Management Office Director to finally leading the entire Capital Portfolio as the Development Director. These roles along with her last two roles in Expansion and Procurement has enabled Helen to develop a client perspective on all elements of the construction lifecycle from developing the business case, design, investment, delivery, logistics, project controls, procurement, supplier relationship management, operational readiness and handover.

Matt is Head of Consulting Lendlease UK and a Chartered Engineer with Engineers Australia. Matt recently graduated with an Executive MBA from Henley Business School.

His principal areas of interest include sustainable energy, corporate strategy, leadership, people development and international business. Professionally he has experience in leading complex development programmes for multiple blue chip clients across sectors including energy transformation (EVC, Hydrogen and Solar), industrial, commercial and downstream oil & gas.

Through working with these clients, Matt has become experienced in leading large culturally diverse multi-functional international teams (both internal and external) of people in various stages of career development and will help SECBE drive positive changes in the industry.

Ellie Carswell won the Constructing Excellence SECBE G4C Future Leader Award 2022 – so SECBE is delighted to co-opt Ellie to the board for a year to provide board experience and accelerate her growth further.

Ellie is a Project Manager at Faithful+Gould, and has a passion for promoting the diverse range of opportunities within the construction industry, on a mission to inspire the next generation of project professionals. Ellie inspires both internally and externally within the South East region, working with colleges, universities, and professional bodies to give career-focussed talks, mentor students considering a career in construction, and provide insight into her unconventional career journey. Ellie is an advocate for the Early Careers community, sitting on the Early Careers Leadership Team for Faithful+Gould’s London and South East region and the Constructing Excellence Kent Group as a committee member. Ellie proves that a career in construction is full of endless opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Keith is a Chartered Civil Engineer with experience in procurement, design, delivery and commissioning of building and civil engineering projects. In a career of over forty years in the construction industry, Keith has worked for contractors, construction managers, project managers, private client bodies, and latterly in local government.  

During the last seventeen years with Hampshire County Council, Keith has led on regional procurement and joint working initiatives. Keith’s insight into construction procurement with Hampshire County Council and with the NACF provides a real understanding of the issues in local government and of an enormous value for SECBE and its “excellence in construction” mission.

Emma is a retired GB athlete in the sport of judo, silver commonwealth medalist. 

She is a Professional MMA athlete, MBTI practitioner, ICF accredited executive coach, Employment law specialist with over 20 years’ experience in HR, delivering people strategies in a wide variety of sectors, including Defense, Construction, Education and Manufacturing currently HR & Sustainability Director for Knauf UK and Ireland.  

She drives the people and sustainability agenda but also coaches her peers through very complex scenarios, in these uncertain times addressing new ways of working through the global pandemic to, more recently, navigating through a global cyber attack. Emma believes that women in the industry now have a voice and she wants to continue to encourage talented women and men who are keen to thrive in the construction environment. Emma is passionate about sharing best practice(s) and learning lessons from all sectors and plans to bring these to the construction sector and contribute to the SECBE board. 

Sarah’s experience and expertise lies in delivering support services that make a direct impact on the wellbeing of communities and she has acquired a wealth of knowledge in a variety of public and charity sector roles. She joined the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity five years ago as a Wellbeing Manager and was responsible for transforming the face of the charity’s front facing services and increasing the number of pathways to support.  

Having grown through the organisation, she is now Chief Operating Officer, and takes strategic lead on all the charity’s operations, ensuring that the construction community can access a wide variety of proactive and reactive support services and resources.

Sarah’s passion for supporting people, both within the charity and externally has directly resulted in the delivery of services that changes people’s lives. Her motivation to make a real difference will be welcomed on the SECBE board in helping us achieve “excellence in construction.”  

Simon is Joint Managing Director and a senior Shareholder at Darke & Taylor Ltd, a multi-award winning SME company that specialises in MEP Services and aims to excel in the design, installation and maintenance of the building services systems that connect to create fit-for-purpose building environments.

Simon is passionate about the SME sector and the vital role the many specialist companies play in the successful delivery of construction projects and building maintenance. He is a strong advocate of apprenticeships and served as the Chair of the Thames Valley Region of the South East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN). He currently sits on the committee of Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards, an annual event that Simon hosts.

Simon will support SECBE by providing a view of the industry from the perspective of the smaller, specialist companies. Simon believes his experience in working in the construction supply chain as a specialist sub-contractor with a strong commitment to apprenticeships and long-term career development, will add a strong perspective to the Board.

Karine has worked in the logistics industry for over 20 years supporting clients from different sectors to deliver their products and materials to the right place at the right time. She is passionate about good logistics and considers herself a logistics geek!

Having worked in different operations and sectors, Karine believes there is a genuine opportunity to better use logistics to improve the performance of our construction builds.

Karine would like to use her understanding of logistics and SECBE board position to drive positive change in the construction sector by inspiring industry leaders to think differently about some of their core operational functions. Karine is delighted to share a wealth of ‘good logistics’ stories, technologies and innovations from other industries that could be transferable to construction projects and support with logistics colleagues, friends, and industry contacts as appropriate to drive collaboration and sharing of best practice.