{"id":510178,"date":"2024-12-09T10:12:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T10:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=510178"},"modified":"2024-12-09T15:02:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T15:02:30","slug":"hands-across-the-sea-the-career-journey-of-sisks-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/sections\/long-reads\/interviews\/hands-across-the-sea-the-career-journey-of-sisks-ceo-09-12-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands across the sea: The career journey of Sisk’s COO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sisk COO Steven McGee reflects on his varied career on both sides of the Irish Sea<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Steven McGee\u2019s journey in construction bears out the adage that variety is the spice of life. His career spanned a range of roles and responsibilities until he took up his current position as UK and Ireland chief operating officer (COO) at John Sisk & Son in August 2023.<\/p>\n

Born in the UK to an Irish father and English mother, McGee moved to Ireland at the age of five. \u201cI was raised in Ireland, but from the age of 18, I was constantly travelling between Ireland and the UK,\u201d he tells Construction News<\/em> from Sisk\u2019s office in an industrial estate near St Albans.<\/p>\n

McGee started his career as a surveyor in Belgium, the UK and Ireland, but he soon transitioned into operational management. \u201cI\u2019ve had the chance to see construction from different sides \u2013 whether it\u2019s how a developer packages a project financially or how subcontractors balance their books. It\u2019s given me a well-rounded insight into the drivers for different stakeholders in a project,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe variety of what we do, from stadiums and infrastructure to tall buildings, keeps us agile\u201d<\/p>\n

Steven McGee, John Sisk & Son<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Each new experience has provided valuable lessons. In his seven-year stint at Irish contractor Stewart Construction, for instance, McGee learned about the operational and financial dynamics of construction.<\/p>\n

He also gained insight into the differences between regional and national contracting. \u201cIn regional contracting, you need to be an all-rounder. You work on a lot of public sector projects, but you also need to be flexible for private developments. It\u2019s a very different approach compared to national contractors who can focus on larger, more specific projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2015, McGee took on a new challenge by joining Ardmore Group as construction director, where he project-managed London jobs such as the \u00a3185m Four Seasons hotel at Tower Hill. \u201cThat project was a turning point. It was the first time I had been site-based in 10 years, and it allowed me to reconnect with the intricacies of project delivery,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Two years later, McGee moved to ISG to take charge of major refurbishments and new-builds in Central London. He notes that the main lesson from his five years at ISG was in managing risk. \u201cThe construction industry often struggles with the balance of risk transfer. Contractors are expected to manage risks that aren\u2019t always within their control,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

His experience in navigating these challenges would serve him well when he moved to Sisk, where he became COO for the firm\u2019s Irish operations in June 2022. McGee says it was \u201cvery interesting\u201d to make the change from his London role at ISG to Sisk (\u201ca market leader in a geography\u201d), but he barely spent a year in the post before a broader role beckoned.<\/p>\n

In his current role, McGee oversees large, complex projects such as the \u00a3230m Wembley Park development in London and Manchester City\u2019s \u00a3300m Etihad Stadium expansion. On his watch, the firm also completed the \u00a371m Isle of Man Ferry Terminal in Liverpool, which began operations in June this year. And in September, Sisk was one of three contractors selected to deliver a \u00a3600m brownfield regeneration project in Bermondsey, south east London.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeographically, we cover the whole of the UK, but we also cover many different project types, from infrastructure and rail to buildings. Also, the projects that we take on in the UK are very, very large projects. So that\u2019s a differentiator for us in the UK [compared to Ireland]. The variety of what we do, from stadiums and infrastructure to tall buildings, keeps us agile,\u201d McGee says.<\/p>\n

He adds that Sisk aims to expand into the life sciences, data centre and healthcare sectors. \u201cWe\u2019re the biggest healthcare [construction] provider in Ireland, with \u00a3600m worth of projects on site, and we\u2019re looking to bring that expertise to the UK,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Sisk is already working on major healthcare projects in the UK. It has been involved at Great Ormond Street Hospital since 2017, most recently on a new paediatric cancer centre. And at Lewisham Hospital, Sisk broke ground in July on a new \u00a314m surgical centre.<\/p>\n

McGee highlights a \u201c20-year track record\u201d in Irish and European data centres, adding: \u201cWe\u2019re currently targeting the UK for new projects in this space\u201d.<\/p>\n

Navigating difficulties<\/h3>\n

McGee is no stranger to adversity. He joined Sisk at a time of soaring inflation, rising material prices and climbing interest rates, plus global supply chain disruptions connected to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cHyperinflation has normalised, but the cost of construction has increased significantly [compared to before 2022],\u201d he says. \u201cSo those contractors like ourselves who were on fixed-price contracts have had to trade our way through them and get out the other end.\u201d<\/p>\n

This hasn\u2019t been easy, as shown by Sisk\u2019s latest accounts. While turnover rose 35 per cent to \u00a3475m in the 2023 calendar year, the firm\u2019s pre-tax loss deepened from \u00a32.6m to \u00a39.7m.<\/p>\n

McGee says that Sisk is \u201cnot at all bothered\u201d about turnover. \u201cIt\u2019s all about the bottom line. Our 2023 figures took into account two main factors. One was that some civils projects didn\u2019t perform as expected due to hyperinflation. The other was post-Grenfell legacy issues. Like all in the industry, we\u2019ve had past projects looked at by owners and insurers, and some queries have come up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing overly worrying in any of them, but we\u2019ve chosen to embrace the issues and be honourable to our clients. So we\u2019ve gone back to a small number of projects to do some remediation, and we chose to address it in the 2023 accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two remediation jobs are ongoing, one of them in London. \u201cThey\u2019re small and modest \u2013 we\u2019ve been lucky compared to other contractors. We\u2019ve navigated difficult times before, and our experience helps us manage risks effectively,\u201d McGee says. \u201cBut Sisk\u2019s biggest concern in the UK is supply chain liquidity following years of market shock leading to and fuelling hyperinflation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would more use of two-stage tenders aid contractors? \u201cYes and no – as an industry, two-stage tendering allows significant advantages in terms of early contractor involvement and supply-chain involvement, so efficiencies in design should become very apparent,\u201d he says. \u201cWhere it potentially falls down slightly is that the first stage timelines can sometimes be so tight that they make it very challenging to fix an accurate target cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is still a place at Sisk for single-stage contracts \u201cif they\u2019re based on a good quality design as shovel-ready projects. It\u2019s good to have some of those in your pipeline, but the trick is the quality of design, so you can get an accurate price.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his five years at ISG, McGee feels \u201cvery sad\u201d about the collapse of his one-time employer. \u201cFrom a human perspective, there\u2019s more than 2,000 people made unemployed. One thing about ISG is that they had great people working for them. So I really feel for the people who\u2019ve lost their jobs. But I also feel for the supply chain – I\u2019ve no doubt that some of them will go through really challenging times.\u201d<\/p>\n

After ISG fell apart in September, McGee\u2019s team reached out to offer support to affected employees and supply chain partners. \u201cWe\u2019ve made an effort to help ISG employees find new opportunities, and we\u2019ve also reached out to their supply chain partners to see if we can provide any assistance,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not steering Sisk\u2019s UK and Irish business through the complexities of the construction industry, McGee follows the careers of his children, both of whom work in the built environment sector. His daughter Kate is a commercial manager at Mace in London and his son Jack is an assistant consultant in Arup\u2019s climate & carbon team in Dublin.<\/p>\n

He also enjoys walking near his Chilterns home and playing golf. The golf course \u201cis a good place to get to know your supply chain and colleagues, because when you go around for four or five hours, you tend to chat them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut business deals don\u2019t get done – maybe that\u2019s in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Steven McGee CV<\/h3>\n

Aug 2023 to date:<\/strong> Chief operating officer, John Sisk & Son (UK & Ireland)
\nJun 2022-Aug 2023:<\/strong> Chief operating officer, John Sisk & Son (Ireland)
\nSep 2017-Jun 2022:<\/strong> London construction managing director, ISG
\nJun 2015-Aug 2017:<\/strong> Construction
\ndirector, Ardmore
\nJun 2012-May 2015:<\/strong> Managing director, Bolton Developments
\nJan 2005-May 2012:<\/strong> Director of construction, then managing director, Stewart Construction
\n1993-2005:<\/strong> Surveyor\/project manager\/director, Belgium, UK & Ireland<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sisk COO Steven McGee reflects on his varied career on both sides of the Irish Sea Steven McGee\u2019s journey in construction bears out the adage that variety is the spice of life. His career spanned a range of roles and responsibilities until he took up his current position as UK and Ireland chief operating officer …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135716,"featured_media":510182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[570,559],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n