黑洞社区

A tiny blonde lady is struggling to get into the lift at Mace鈥檚 Camden offices. She is obscured from the chest up by a vase of exotic red flowers. 鈥淚鈥檝e had to steal these from reception for the room in which the chief executive is being interviewed,鈥� she explains wearily, balancing the load precariously on her knee to punch in the floor number. 鈥淭hey are worried it looks too bare, or too white or something.鈥�

The chief executive she is talking about is Stephen Pycroft, the interview is with 黑洞社区 and the flower crisis is probably one she was meant to keep to herself.

It is good to know they鈥檙e making an effort, though. The fact that this is Pycroft鈥檚 first ever interview might have something to do with it. Although he is well known in the industry, he has always strenuously avoided the press. But now, after more than 30 years in construction, Pycroft is ready go public.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 do interviews,鈥� he says in his gruff Yorkshire accent, putting the carefully positioned red flowers on the table behind him. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e decided to do this one because Mace is changing rapidly and in the past six months there have been rumours circulating that we鈥檙e up for sale. So I thought it鈥檇 be best to set the record straight.鈥�

But first he sketches in a little background about how his career began. When he was 18, he worked as a site labourer in his hometown of Bradford and decided construction was for him, although not without some paternal guidance. 鈥淢y father sat me down and said, 鈥榠t鈥檚 not the guys digging the holes that make the money 鈥� it鈥檚 the people managing them鈥�.鈥�

So Pycroft did a degree in quantity surveying and moved to London to join Bovis. It was here he met future Mace founder Ian Macpherson. 鈥淚 spent a year in that office arriving 15 minutes before Ian, who was the construction director,鈥� he says. 鈥淓very day I said good morning, but he never said it back. Eventually he came over to me and said 鈥榳ho are you, then?鈥� I told him and mentioned that I didn鈥檛 like the project manager on my job. He said: 鈥楧o it yourself.鈥� So I did.鈥�

After trying and failing to interest Bovis in his concept of the contractor as construction manager, Macpherson left Bovis to set up Mace with four of his colleagues in 1990. Pycroft followed in 1993 before leading a management buyout in 2001. He is now the majority shareholder in the business.

Since he became chief executive he has cut the business鈥� commercial property work from 65% to 50%. 鈥淭hat was a good move,鈥� he says. 鈥淣obody could predict this recession would hit us so quickly and so dramatically but luckily we have a good spread of growth in different sectors.鈥�

If vital projects do fall through, we鈥檒l just sit down and work out what the hell to do. If we have to reduce income, we will

Mace has not been unaffected by the downturn, though. Just before Christmas it made 35 redundancies in the UK and 50 in the UAE. All reviews of salaries greater than 拢45,000 have been frozen until August and staff have been told that a review in March will determine whether further cuts to its 2,900 workforce will be made.

Pycroft says the group needs to hit a turnover of 拢700m (compared with 拢530m in 2007). This would be possible if it secured three or four large jobs in London and the South-east in the first quarter. One of them is almost in the bag: the Shard tower at London Bridge. This project is notable in many ways, one being that it is heretical: Mace plans to do the job for a fixed price of about 拢425m. What would Macpherson say? What Pycroft says is typically to the point: 鈥淲e needed a high-profile project to prove Mace would take risks,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he Shard will be the most iconic project in Europe; it鈥檚 put us on the map.

Then there鈥檚 Crossrail. Pycroft says: 鈥淲e鈥檙e on the shortlist to oversee it. If you鈥檇 asked me a year ago if I thought it would go ahead, I鈥檇 have said no. Now I think it will, as there鈥檚 been a lot more positive discussion about moving things forward in the past four or five months. It will employ a lot of people for a long time.鈥�

Well the work may be there, but things still look pretty bleak 鈥渋n the cold light of day鈥�. Pycroft鈥檚 real worry is what will happen in 2010/11, when the supply of new projects is expected to hit its lowest point. 鈥淚t鈥檚 worrying, but we have good clients,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ritish Land and Land Securities say they plan for work to start up again in three to six months, and we are involved with some government education projects. Plus we operate all over the world. We are responding to the downturn in Dubai by moving into Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and we are exploring Vietnam, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa and Russia, where we are working on the 2014 Winter Olympics programme.鈥�

But what will happen if things don鈥檛 work out? 鈥淚f that happens we鈥檒l just sit down and work out what the hell to do,鈥� he says, calmly. 鈥淲e have no external investors and therefore no outside influences demanding that we continue to grow. If we have to reduce income, we will.鈥�

His confidence is partly explained by the fact that Mace offers consultancy and construction management services, making it different from the average contractor. He hopes this will set it apart from rivals and help it weather the storm.

Its rivalry with one particular competitor has been well documented. 鈥淚 would hope that after 15 years the tensions with Bovis have subsided,鈥� he says, smiling slightly, 鈥渂ut does it add a little extra spice when we鈥檙e up against them for projects? Yes. We like beating them.鈥�

The time has arrived to ask the big question: back in June it was rumoured that Mace was up for sale. Was it?

Does rivalry with bovis add a little extra spice when we鈥檙e up against them for projects? Yes. We like beating them

Pycroft immediately becomes animated. 鈥淵eah! Right, let鈥檚 sort this out,鈥� he shouts. 鈥淭his company is not up for sale. I鈥檓 not off sunning myself in the Bahamas, am I?鈥�

Maybe not, but when really pushed Pycroft does concede that a sale is not out of the question in the future.鈥� If someone was the right fit for Mace and wouldn鈥檛 go against what has been built up here came along with the right offer I would consider it. Anyone would.鈥�

On a more personal level, he reveals he has set a date for his departure. 鈥淚鈥檓 50 and I think at 55 I鈥檇 hand the reigns over to someone else 鈥� Mark Holmes, Mark Reynolds or Gareth Lewis [three of Mace鈥檚 senior directors]. Part of a strong business is succession planning and they have all been brought on to move up to a level where they can take over.鈥�

Pycroft says that had it not been for a personal tragedy in 2006, this succession planning would have happened sooner and this would be a retirement interview. 鈥淭hree years ago this Saturday I lost my wife. We had plans to retire together to Australia. Then all that changed. I could never do that without her. When she died I refocused on the business. That鈥檚 why I am still here.鈥�

The booming voice softens, and he struggles to stay dry-eyed, as he explains how he has coped with running a company while bringing up two young children. 鈥淚 try to make sure my weekends are free for the children, but they understand I have a busy job that means I have to be away in the week. My oldest 鈥� she鈥檚 11 鈥� is firm with me. When I get tired she wags her finger at me and says, 鈥楧addy, don鈥檛 you talk to me like I鈥檓 one of your subbies!鈥�,鈥� he laughs. 鈥淭hough of course I talk to all my subbies in a very lovely manner 鈥︹��

As the interview draws to a close Pycroft worries he may have held back too much: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel I have said anything controversial enough. I want to say something really outrageous.鈥� He thinks about it for a second, then clocks the voice recorder and thinks better of it. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think in the current climate now would be the best time to be getting on the wrong side of anyone.鈥�

He may be a media virgin but Pycroft has 鈥� in the nick of time 鈥� mastered the trick of knowing when to keep quiet.