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Steve Pycroft has a word to describe things when they get a bit hairy. 鈥淚t could have got a bit tasty,鈥� he says of the decision to build the Shard.

Others in Mace at the time were less convinced of the probity of a move to build London鈥檚 tallest tower for a fixed price of 拢500m. 鈥淭here were discussions at board level saying,  鈥榗an we not not do this?鈥�, 鈥楧o we need to do lump sum because there is a major concern it will send us bust?鈥欌��

He recalls his daughter telling him after he had been discharged from a second spell in hospital with covid-19 last spring just how perilous things had got. She had managed to get a flight back from Australia, where she was travelling, to be at his bedside in spirit as visitors were banned from seeing those stricken with the virus in person.

And stricken her dad was. He spent nearly four weeks on a ward in an induced coma. Doctors later told him it was touch and go whether he would pull through. 鈥淚t was only after I鈥檇 got out, Jessica said: 鈥楧ad, you know it got fairly tasty鈥�.鈥�

If Mace had a godfather, Pycroft (pictured) would be it. It is still extraordinary to comprehend that, around the year 2000, Mace had a turnover of something like 拢65m and yet, seven-odd years later, was taking on a 拢500m contract to build a tower whose design had already caught the public imagination because of its resemblance to a shard of glass. It could not have been a higher profile scheme for a firm to make its major contracting debut.

For those who know the 63-year-old, who is calling time on his career at the firm next month after close to 30 years at the business, what he now says about the Shard and battling coronavirus won鈥檛 surprise them a bit.

鈥淭here was never a doubt we could build it,鈥� he says of the tower. And his brush with death and covid-19? 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think it was that life threatening.鈥�

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But Pyrcroft is sharp enough to know deep down that building a very tall tower for a lump sum above one of London鈥檚 busiest railway stations could have sent the firm under. And he also knows that he was one of the lucky ones last spring. He survived, but thousands didn鈥檛.

He is leaving Mace and construction behind, he says, because he is not enjoying it as much as he used to. 鈥淚鈥檝e fallen out of love with it a bit,鈥� he concedes. 鈥淚 used to love every minute of every day. Now it doesn鈥檛 have that kind of appeal anymore. If you鈥檙e not enjoying it, stop doing it.鈥�

I鈥檓 a dinosaur. The dinosaurs are dying and I鈥檓 one of them

Pycroft admits that he misses the rough and tumble of the old days, when deals could be done in a pub or over the phone.

鈥淚 won鈥檛 hide from the fact that I鈥檓 a dinosaur. The dinosaurs are dying and I鈥檓 one of them. When I listen to how much IT is involved on projects these days, we鈥檙e using this and doing that, using this kind of software for recruitment and I go: 鈥榊eah, it鈥檚 not me.鈥� I鈥檓 sad that it鈥檚 not me, but it鈥檚 not me.

鈥淭he world has changed. There鈥檚 corporate governance, it is more strict on accounting since Carillion went bust.

鈥淎ccountants have got a lot more paranoid about everything and anything. The whole fun of running a business has slowly dwindled away. [Decisions are] more driven by corporates and group decisions, not by single individuals who are willing to put their head above the parapet. There鈥檚 too much scrutiny, criticism, question marks.鈥�

It sounds like a lament 鈥� and some of it is 鈥� but he is self-aware enough to know that times have changed and it鈥檚 time to get out.

Strong relationships

To give an example of just how things have altered, he remembers the time he helped to put together the CLM team that was charged with making sure the venues and infrastructure for the 2012 Olympics got built.

Mace was speaking to CH2M Hill, a US company that was little-known in the UK at the time. It was interested in the Olympics role and was hoping Laing O鈥橰ourke might be too.

But there was a problem. The Americans were having difficulty getting hold of Ray O鈥橰ourke. 鈥淪o I rang Ray,鈥� Pycroft recalls. 鈥淗e said he was up for listening, we went down to Dartford [where Laing O鈥橰ourke is based] and he said: 鈥榶eah, let鈥檚 go for it鈥�.鈥� It took half a day for the joint venture to be born.

鈥淩elationships throughout my career have always been important,鈥� he says. None more so than perhaps his ones with developers Gerald Ronson and the late Irvine Sellar.

Ronson, who successfully rebuilt his reputation after being handed a one-year prison sentence for his role in a 1980s share trading fraud, was the developer of the Heron Tower, the KPF-designed scheme built by Skanska, where Mace was the project manager.

Ronson was sufficiently impressed because Pycroft, who counts Ronson as a personal friend, says: 鈥淕erald said: 鈥楬ave a word with my little mate about a job he鈥檚 got鈥�.鈥�

That person turned out to be Irvine Sellar, who started out as a fashion retailer in London鈥檚 swinging 60s, later buying up the site of the Shard, then the headquarters of accountant PwC, in the late 1990s.

鈥淚f we hadn鈥檛 had a good relationship with Irvine, we wouldn鈥檛 have built it,鈥� he says. But it was Pycroft鈥檚 rapport with Sellar that was key.

鈥淎ll credit to Irvine, he said he wanted Mace. He wanted an individual he could relate to and I was lucky enough for that to be me. I got on well with Gerald, was fairly well known in the industry and that ticked boxes for Irvine.鈥�

Sellar died four years ago but Pycroft鈥檚 relationship with the developer remains strong, turning out recently for the topping out ceremony of its Paddington Square scheme which Mace is building in west London, where he made a speech alongside Sellar鈥檚 son James.

Finances

The Shard had been in the pipeline for some years before work in earnest started in 2009. On-off for several months, Sellar eventually got through the 2007/08 crash and secured the funding needed from a consortium of Qatari investors. But Pycroft knew there would be a problem. 鈥淭he weakness was the Mace balance sheet. We didn鈥檛 have one.鈥�

Pycroft had to sweat it out as others, notably Sir Robert McAlpine and Laing O鈥橰ourke, took a look at the job. Rival interest cooled, perhaps put off because they knew Sellar would try and stick with Mace. 鈥淎ll credit to Irvine because [in his discussions with the Qataris] he said: 鈥業 want Mace鈥�. But Mace hadn鈥檛 got the balance sheet until Irvine stepped in and helped provide us with forward funding in terms of placing orders with contractors.鈥�

Pycroft only met the Qataris a few times during the project. 鈥淭he questions were fairly direct and succinct,鈥� he remembers. 鈥淚f there was flak to come from the Qataris, Irvine would always shield us from it. He would turn around and say: 鈥楯ust make sure it鈥檚 delivered, Stephen鈥�.鈥�

I know a number of others said Mace would never deliver it in the programme. We had constantly got this comment from other major contractors that we weren鈥檛 regarded as one

The deal was a game-changer for Mace. Previously, its typical jobs were around 拢40m and some rivals sneered at it for just being a construction manager. As the Shard鈥檚 procurement process dragged on and funding chopped and changed, Mace progressed from a project manager to a construction manager to, finally, the main contractor.

鈥淚t put us in the premier league of construction,鈥� Pycroft says. 鈥淭here was no doubt it was a massive surprise to some. How can Mace be doing a 拢500m job? Why has Irvine supported them in delivering this? I know a number of others said Mace would never deliver it in the programme. We had constantly got this comment from other major contractors that we weren鈥檛 regarded as one. 鈥業t鈥檚 alright being a CM but you never take the risk. It鈥檚 all easy.鈥�

鈥淭here was a lot of verbals, lots of chit chat, 鈥榶ou never have skin in the game鈥� and for me it was, you know what, let鈥檚 just go and show them all what we can do. Let鈥檚 just go and show them we can deliver it. If we were going to pick a job [to do that], we may as well pick one that鈥檚 the highest one in London.鈥�

He adds: 鈥淚 do look back and think: 鈥榃ow, we鈥檙e just stepping into a 拢500m, two-stage bid鈥�. Perhaps I should have been more twitched. If the market changes, 2% or 3% margin can just be lost on inflation.鈥�

The outsider

If Mace was an outsider at the time, perhaps it was a reflection of where Pycroft came from. He grew up in Bradford, his interest in construction sparked by his father, Arnold, a painter and decorator. Like many who make their way to the capital from the regions, Pycroft had something to prove. 鈥淚鈥檝e been 40 years down in London. The plan was to pop down from Bradford, make a few bob and go back up North.鈥�

He graduated as a quantity surveyor from Trent Polytechnic in the early 1980s, joining Gardiner & Theobald. He stayed there for 18 months before deciding that he didn鈥檛 like it anymore. 鈥淏ovis came along and said, 鈥榳e鈥檒l employ you as a QS, but you will have the chance to become a project manager鈥�.鈥�

 

His degree and experience at G&T was not to be wasted, though. 鈥淚 think some of the best project managers are quantity surveyors by profession. It gives you an understanding of what is real cost and value, a bit more of a grounding in how decisions should be made.鈥�

He remembers his first job at Bovis in a flash. 鈥�35-38b George Street in Richmond. A little cut and carve. Office and retail, 拢3m to 拢4m. I never looked back.鈥�

At Bovis he met Ian Macpherson, who would later help to set up Mace in 1990, and it was Macpherson who gave him his first major project manager role at Bovis 鈥� the ITN building on Grays Inn Road in London in 1988.

Those who worked on it read like a who鈥檚 who of the industry. Developed by Peter Rogers and Stuart Lipton when the pair were at Stanhope, QS was Davis Langdon鈥檚 Paul Morrell 鈥� later to become the government鈥檚 first construction tsar 鈥� the architect was Norman Foster, with those from the practice working on it including Ken Shuttleworth, later to found Make, and Grant Brooker, now its head of studio.

The late Tony Fitzpatrick, the structural engineer whizz from Arup, who would later work on the Shard, was also there. 鈥淩ay O鈥橰ourke was pouring concrete,鈥� he adds.

Macpherson left to set up Mace after Bovis began to eschew the CM route. 鈥淚an Mac said to them: 鈥業f you鈥檙e not going to do CM anymore, I鈥檓 going to go and form my own company鈥�. So he did.鈥�

Pycroft knew the call would come from Macpherson at some stage 鈥� he had told him to expect it 鈥� and it did, in 1993. He joined as a project manager and on his first day Macpherson sent him off to a job in Smithfield Market. 鈥淚t was a combined heat and power scheme. I thought I had come in to run a big job at Mace and Ian Mac said 鈥榩op down there for a couple of weeks and look after it, Stephen鈥�. A year later I emerged from the basement, two stone lighter, to eventually go and do the job I was brought in to do.鈥�

That turned out to be 1-19 Victoria Street, a refurbishment scheme that would later become the central London base for the Department for Trade and Industry.

His rise at Mace was meteoric, leading a management buyout in 2001 when Macpherson decided to sell his one-third stake. 鈥淣one of us were business people at the time and Ian was very helpful in trying to make sure there were no major cashflow issues.鈥�

We鈥檝e all been on major projects that have gone wrong. We did some resi in Birmingham that cost us money, resi in Manchester that cost us money

Pyrcoft took over as chief operating officer, becoming chief executive in 2004 and executive chairman in 2008. 鈥淢e and Ian Macpherson would pinch ourselves. Did we think we鈥檇 be this 拢2bn turnover company? No, not at all.鈥�

For every Shard, the firm has had its share of schemes it would rather forget. 鈥淲e鈥檝e all been on major projects that have gone wrong. We did some resi in Birmingham that cost us money, resi in Manchester that cost us money.鈥�

They were more than a decade ago but Pycroft cautions: 鈥淲e moved out of our power base in London and we didn鈥檛 have that sway with the supply chain and it cost us money.鈥�

In London itself, the firm lost around 拢40m on the Nova office building in Victoria. Finished four years ago, the job was fixed at around 拢400m but the design had not been completed and the cost of wages and materials began to outstrip what it had agreed with Landsec to build it for. 鈥淣ova was probably the biggest [loss],鈥� Pycroft says. 鈥淵ou realise how fragile profits are.鈥�

He picks the Shard as his favourite job. 鈥淚t was a time and a place with a great group of people. We all had some good fun, it was tough, but we all enjoyed it. There was rarely any recrimination or finger pointing.鈥�

He will miss construction, the tales and the yarns, the moments that stunned the industry. Such as? O鈥橰ourke buying Laing for a pound 鈥� 鈥渢he deal of the century, Ray deserves his seat at the top table鈥� 鈥� Multiplex taking on the job to rebuild Wembley stadium after its joint venture bid with Bovis disintegrated 鈥� 鈥渢here was a big gasp at that鈥� 鈥� Carillion going bust 鈥� 鈥渢he senior people got too divorced from their own business鈥�.

He recognises that people such as him are leaving the industry bit by bit. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e drifting away or passing away,鈥� he says, sadly.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot more controlled and professional, which is good in so many ways but that comes with the removal of entrepreneurialism, a bit of fun. The mavericks are not part of that new era.鈥�

Miss it he will, but he is adamant that he is not coming back and, in January, he returns to Yorkshire to be closer to his two older sisters and younger brother.

鈥淚鈥檒l remain a [Mace] director, me and [chief executive] Mark Reynolds [between them they own around 50% of the business] will no doubt keep in touch, but there will be no day-to-day involvement. I鈥檝e done enough, it鈥檚 time to walk away. I鈥檝e put my heart and soul into Mace and it鈥檚 time to draw a line. Mace is in safe hands.鈥�

Might he not be tempted by a non-executive role in case he misses those Mace board meetings at 8am every Monday morning a bit more than he thought? 鈥淣ot interested,鈥� he says.

He is planning more travel, has a bike ride across the Pyrenees to complete next summer and a trip to tackle Kilimanjaro, Africa鈥檚 tallest mountain, planned for later on in the year.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to get to 70 and then stop and not be able to do anything. I鈥檝e got my health and let鈥檚 go and enjoy it while we can. There鈥檚 still plenty of things to do in the world.鈥�

Over but not out

It was a neighbour who noticed Steve Pycroft wasn鈥檛 looking too good when she popped round to his house one day last March. He had come back from the US, was coughing, struggling to get up the stairs.

鈥淪he said: 鈥榊ou look shit, Stephen, I鈥檇 better get the ambulance鈥�.鈥� And so began a stay at Wexham Hospital, near Slough, with covid-19 which saw him put into an induced coma for nearly four weeks over two stretches.

He was discharged after a couple of weeks, only to be whisked back in when he contracted pneumonia. He doesn鈥檛 remember too much about the whole thing apart from being asked his name and date of birth every day when he was roused from his coma by the nurses.

The strain for his two children 鈥� Elliott, 22 and older sister by two years, Jessica 鈥� was hard. Jessica flew back from Australia, the birthplace of her late mother Joanne who died from breast cancer aged 39 in 2006, to be with her dad.

Pycroft鈥檚 spell in hospital helped him make up his mind over a decision as to when he would leave Mace. 鈥淭here were a number of things that make you question what you do,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t had already been heading that way [to leave].鈥�

Elliott and Jessica didn鈥檛 hear much for the first few days he was in hospital. 鈥淣obody knew what was going on, which added to the anxiety and stress.鈥� Discharged in May, it took him the rest of the year to recover. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been no post-covid issues, though鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 fortunate.鈥�

Mace was my saviour as well. I could immerse myself in work much to the criticism of a number of people

After the death of Joanne, he threw himself into his work. 鈥淢ace was my saviour as well. I could immerse myself in work, much to the criticism of a number of people because I came back fairly soon after Joanne鈥檚 death. If you immerse yourself in work, you can ignore the real world.鈥�

There is black humour when he mentions his wife鈥檚 reaction to the prospect of her going before him. 鈥淲e always thought I would die first with the lifestyle I lived. Work hard and play hard. She said: 鈥楾hat鈥檚 the worry Stephen, I鈥檓 leaving these two children with you鈥�.鈥欌�� He admits: 鈥淚t was tough for me but it was tougher for Elliott and Jessica.鈥�

He is immensely proud of them, that much is obvious. Elliott is working at Mace as an assistant project manager and Jessica as a parliamentary researcher. 鈥淚鈥檓 more than pleased at how they鈥檝e turned out and that鈥檚 an understatement.鈥�

He says Jessica has no interest in construction. 鈥淭oo aggressive,鈥� he says, though he concedes that is changing 鈥� and for the better. 鈥淭here鈥檚 rarely effing and blinding across the table anymore. It鈥檚 just not acceptable.鈥�

Doesn鈥檛 mean he doesn鈥檛 miss it, though. It is left to his son to rib him about his dad鈥檚 sometimes four-letter tirades. 鈥淗e told me I had made a career out of swearing and I said: 鈥楨lliott, I made a career out of giving clear direction that was unambiguous and which everybody knew鈥�.鈥�