Communicating Construction: insight, experience and best practice

By Penny Norton

The primary communications function in planning is consultation: the process of engaging with a defined set of stakeholders (usually local residents, politicians, special interest groups and pre-defined statutory consultees) on a planning issue or proposal, encouraging their feedback and utilising it constructively. Consultation, and community involvement generally, has progressed significantly with increased use of social media.  This chapter considers the new communications tools available, within the context of a strategic approach and the legal and regulatory framework at the start of 2020. It also addresses some of the common challenges and concludes with a set of principles for effective consultation.

Penny is a consultation specialist with wide-ranging experience of public relations and public affairs within property, construction and regeneration. Penny has worked with many leading developers, planning consultancies and local authorities. Through ConsultOnline, which she founded in 2012, Penny's work makes pioneering use of social media and web-based communications.   She has written extensively on the subject of consultation for property publications.  Her first book, Public Consultation and Community Involvement in Planning: a twenty-first century guide was published by Routledge in 2017.  A Senior Associate of The Consultation Institute, Penny is an active member of tCI's Planning Working Group and jointly set up its Environment Working Group. She has responded to Government consultations, written elearning courses and spoken at property industry events. She is also an active member of the Town and Country Planning Association and has contributed to TCPA best practice guides. Penny has a masters qualification in administration and a postgraduate diploma in PR. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and founded the CIPR's Construction and Property Special Interest Group (CAPSIG).

By Dan Gerrella

There are many strands of communication within the architectural sector. These range from detailed stakeholder engagement to help secure planning approvals through to celebrating the completion of a successful building or masterplan. This chapter explores the various stages of promoting architecture and urbanism, the issues affecting the sector, and how practices need to adapt.

Dan is a chartered PR professional specialising in property and professional services. Originally qualified as a journalist, he has worked both client-side and in consultancy, supporting organisations in the UK and internationally, mainly throughout EMEA and Asia-Pacific. This has included developing and delivering strategic communications programmes ranging from small, targeted stakeholder engagement through to broader messaging for large, hard to reach audiences, supporting business growth and enhancing corporate reputation.  He also has a wealth of crisis communications experience, working with asset owners, property developers, and energy companies among others. Dan is associate director at LMC (Liz Male Consulting), a specialist communications and marketing consultancy for the construction and property sector, and supports the Chartered Institute of Public Relations through a number of roles. This includes being a member of the CIPR Council, part of the Policy and Campaigns Committee, and chair of CAPSIG, an industry group focused on best practice communications within the built environment. 

By Andrew Geldard

This chapter sets out how PR professionals working with major contractors can help their companies or clients thrive in meeting the challenges faced by a fast moving world where technology is changing both the workplace and people's behaviours on an almost monthly basis. It explores the concept of people publishers, the power of having an army of brand ambassadors on side, and the importance of having a values-driven belief that business must deliver social value beyond making a return for shareholders. It seeks to equip communicators with the tools required to help senior management teams harness the potential of social value and digital media to drive growth while also showing where they can offer most value within a business discipline where the outputs can sometime be intangible to the senior management team.

Andrew Geldard is chief communications officer at Willmott Dixon, a privately owned company that specialises in construction and interior fit-out. Andrew has over 20 years' experience in construction which also includes stints at John Laing and Skanska. He believes that communications, when used effectively, can give companies the 'X' factor for attracting and retaining the best people, and also in creating business growth opportunities. He is a passionate believer that companies must have a diverse and inclusive workplace to thrive, and one recent career highlight was seeing Willmott Dixon listed as the UK's number one company in the FT's Diversity Leaders 2020 list, coming third overall out of 700 companies in Europe. Andrew is also a firm believer that companies must be values-led, and helped develop Willmott Dixon's 'purpose beyond profit' ethos where its people and activities are focused on helping to create a society that works for all. His belief in a company's power to support social mobility saw him devise Willmott Dixon's Foundation in 2011, whose work has improved the life chances of 10,000 people in the last seven years.  

By Cathy Barlow

This chapter explores the role that specialist subcontractors play in the increasingly complex construction industry, and the different PR tools and techniques that can be used to help them build relationships, and to grow and maintain a robust reputation.

Cathy first worked for construction specialist PR consultancy Smith Goodfellow in 1985, where she started out as a receptionist with ambitions to be a writer. Two years later, having progressed to become an account executive, she left the business, but continued to work for them on and off as a freelance writer. While bringing up her two children she took on various part time and voluntary roles, including proof reading the Journal of the Association of Charted Physiotherapists in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, working as a breastfeeding counsellor for the National Childbirth Trust, and as a Parent Governor, becoming the Chair of Stockport's Parent Governor Association and Vice Chair of the North West Regional Parent Governor Association. In 2002 Cathy received a phone call from the founder of Smith Goodfellow asking whether she was still freelancing. The request was to write an article on the issue of hard to heat homes. Some deep research later and she was hooked, coming to the realisation that this work could have an important social impact. Her passion for PR and the built environment has never wavered since. Cathy and her husband Paul became the proud owners and directors of Smith Goodfellow in 2010.

By Louise Morgan

Focused on using PR and media relations to support the sales activity of building product manufacturers, this chapter discusses the complexity of the construction supply chain and explains how to build a solid programme which resonates with various stakeholders. The chapter explores in detail how PR in construction has evolved in recent years and advises how best to manage activity using multiple tactics, including the Building Regulations as a source of content.

Louise Morgan has worked agency-side with construction sector clients for over 15 years. Leading targeted PR programmes which launch disruptive products into the market, drive material specifications and raise the profile of brands throughout the construction supply chain, Louise has been a trusted advisor to many major construction product companies including Lumin, ROCKWOOL, SIG and Trade Fabrication Systems. Louise founded specialist agency Technical Marketing & PR in 2011 with a clear focus on delivering PR and marketing support to the construction and manufacturing sectors. A CIPR and CIM qualified practitioner, Louise holds a BSc in Human Psychology from Aston University.

By Jo Field

This chapter explains the role that transport and infrastructure PR has in engaging stakeholders and involving them in the journey of a large-scale project. It looks at what we mean by stakeholder engagement and argues that PR is crucial in championing stakeholders' views. The chapter looks at the importance of communicating the social value of infrastructure and helps the reader navigate the legal landscape of consultation and engagement. It explains stakeholder mapping; making sure that all voices are heard, and the importance of developing plans in partnership with stakeholders. The chapter also describes how to measure success. It includes case studies and the author's tips for successful stakeholder engagement.

Jo Field is the award-winning founder and managing director of JFG Communications, a boutique consultancy specialising in stakeholder engagement and communications for the transport and infrastructure sectors. Jo is an expert in connecting people and policymakers. She helps companies engage their stakeholders, build advocacy about what they do, and inform and influence public policy. Before setting up JFG Communications, Jo built and led Transport for London's award-winning stakeholder engagement team and secured stakeholder support for London's transport infrastructure and the funding to deliver it. Jo has built advocacy for some of the UK's leading transport infrastructure projects, including High Speed 2, Crossrail 1, Crossrail 2, the Tube upgrade and the London 2012 Games. Jo is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a trainer on the Institute's stakeholder engagement course.

By Tom Smith

This chapter looks at the current approach of one building consultancy, Mott MacDonald, to raise its profile and gain publicity through traditional PR and media relations, social media and other communications activities. A substantial case study of the Cumbria Infrastructure Recovery Programme puts the theory into practice.

An experienced external communications practitioner, Tom has a background of working in infrastructure, development and financial services sectors. Skilled in B2B and B2C media relations, corporate communications and reputation management, he is currently group media relations manager at Mott MacDonald, a £1.5bn global engineering, management and development consultancy. Prior to this Tom advised some for some of UK's largest financial services providers, providing public relations and governmental affairs support and helping to enhance and manage corporate reputations. He has also organised events for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

By Paul Wilkinson

Construction is undergoing a technological revolution. Initially slow to digitise, architectural, engineering and construction organisations, plus their owner-operator clients, are now being challenged to innovate — to change their business models and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities. Momentum has gathered since the late 20th century, and developments such as building information modelling (BIM), cloud and mobile computing, social media and data analytics are already transforming the sector, while new industry structures, processes and cultural practices will help sustain its wider transformation to meet challenges including climate change, population growth and mass urbanisation. This chapter argues that communication professionals working in this changing sector will need to understand recent and future digital trends, while also adapting and applying their professional and industry knowledge to help their employers and clients make better-informed strategic choices about their role in the built environment.

Paul Wilkinson has worked in UK PR and marketing since 1987, starting in construction professional services before being appointed head of communications at a construction Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) start-up in 2000. Since 2009 has been an independent technology analyst, PR consultant, freelance journalist, blogger and public speaker. He has written over 1,900 posts on his blog Extranet Evolution since 2005, and has freelanced for AEC Magazine, Infrastructure Intelligence, and Concrete Quarterly, among others.

Expert on construction collaboration technology platforms, SaaS and related developments in fields including BIM, mobile technologies and social media, Wilkinson is deputy chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers' digital transformation community of practice, executive director and chair of the technology group at the UK BIM Alliance, and on the management teams at COMIT and ThinkBIM. A former visiting lecturer in BIM at the University of Westminster, he is also active in Constructing Excellence. He is a Fellow of the CIPR, a past member of its Council and has chaired its policy and campaigns committee and its construction and property group (CAPSIG). He is a member of International Building Press.   

By Liz Male

This chapter examines the way that sustainability is defined in the built environment and the key themes that provide most opportunity in UK construction for communicating sustainability. It explores the issues around technical understanding and the communication of science, 'greenwashing' and 'greenblushing', labelling and third-party certification. It concludes with advice on how PR professionals in construction can engage with the public on sustainability messaging and help facilitate environmental behaviour change, and how to use the PESO model of PR to communicate sustainability in the built environment.

Liz Male MBE is founding director of LMC (Liz Male Consulting), a multi award-winning PR and communications consultancy specialising in construction, property and sustainability in the built environment. Clients range from industry institutes and trade associations, to architects, consultants, contractors and housebuilders, specialist sub-contractors, construction technology suppliers, product manufacturers and the industry's largest events. Over the last 10 years, Liz has also undertaken a range of non-executive roles focusing on professional standards, skills and consumer protection within the construction industry. She is chair of Trustees of the National Energy Foundation and a lay member of the Architects Registration Board. She was the independent chair of TrustMark from 2011-2017 and undertook roles on the Construction Leadership Council and the implementation board of the Each Home Counts review to increase skills, competence and consumer protection in the general building and housing retrofit sector. Liz was awarded MBE in the 2015 New Year's Honours for services to construction and consumer protection. Liz has collaborated with Penny Norton on a sister book to this one, Promoting Property, also published by Routledge.