Beard, an award-winning contractor in the south of England, has announced the promotion of Paula Baleson to social value manager. In the newly-created position, Paula will take the lead in defining a new company-wide strategy and provide support to a team of social value coordinators, ensuring Beard’s work and actions deliver wider social, economic and environmental benefits. One of her first duties has been developing the company’s new social value framework. This will set out social value targets for the business for 2030, and will be rolled out across Beard’s entire team and its five regional offices in the coming months. Paula joined Beard in 2022 as communications manager, having previously spent five years at building firm Midas Group. Having emigrated from South Africa in 2016, Paula joined Midas’s residential division, Mi-space, as business development and office coordinator, before moving into a central role as group marketing executive. She has also spent time as marketing communications manager for water solutions company SDS Limited. Across its 130-plus year history, Beard has been committed to social value through its sustainable construction, its charitable work and good relationships with the local communities in which it works. But social value is becoming both more formalised in the construction sector, and increasingly important from both an ethical and business perspective, with a growing number of tender opportunities, including Government contracts, now having social and environmental requirements. Beard’s social objectives and ambitions align well with the new Government’s agenda of supporting SMEs, increasing their spend with social enterprises and providing best value to customers. Alongside the introduction of the new Procurement Act in October this year – which is designed to make public procurement more accessible, efficient and beneficial for councils and suppliers – the Government has used its first King’s Speech to set out imminent plans to change planning regulations and increase infrastructure delivery.  Speaking on her promotion, Paula Baleson said: “I am incredibly proud to be taking this next step in my career with Beard and taking on such an important role. While Beard’s community, environmental and charitable spirit has always been clearly visible, the focus this new role brings enables us to really strengthen our efforts, particularly as social value continues to play an even bigger part in the construction sector in the UK. “I’m hugely passionate about supporting everyone at Beard to create positive social, economic and environmental outcomes for local communities. The development of our social value framework will certainly help to facilitate this and I look forward to sharing this with all our colleagues, partners and customers very soon.” Mike Hedges, company operations director at Beard, added: “As a proud family-run firm, Beard has always been a business with social consciousness. Our ongoing commitment of adding value to the communities in which we work and taking care of the planet, highlights the broader benefits of our projects. Beyond constructing buildings, we focus on ensuring that every project lives on beyond its site boundaries, delivering meaningful value to the entire community. Paula is a fantastic fit to lead this initiative, and along with her talented team, will ensure our work and our actions have a clear social footprint and a lasting legacy.” Beard is a family-owned and run construction company based in Swindon, with a wealth of experience in both public and private sectors, including education, healthcare, sports, leisure and the arts. Alongside its head office in Swindon, Beard has regional offices in Bristol, Oxford, Guildford and Southampton. For more information, please visit www.beardconstruction.co.uk. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

DOMIS, one of the UK’s fastest-growing national construction companies, has announced the retirement of its Co-Founder and Managing Director, Lee McCarren, after seven years of service. Kingsley Thornton, currently Director at Domis, becomes Managing Director of the business with immediate effect.  With Kingsley’s help, Lee McCarren has steered Domis’s fast growth since the company’s formation in 2017. To date, Domis has delivered over 5,000 new homes and a full portfolio of commercial spaces across dozens of schemes around the UK. Succession planning at Domis has been underway for some time. Kingsley Thornton is unanimously agreed by all members of the Board to be Lee’s natural successor to take Domis into its next phase of growth, supported by the mature, experienced management team that Lee has put in place.  Lee McCarren comments: “It has been a huge honour to serve as Managing Director of Domis for seven years and I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a team in that time. The time is, however, now right for me to think about life beyond Domis and enjoy what comes next for me and my family. The business couldn’t be in a better position and I am delighted to hand over the reins to Kingsley under whose stewardship I am certain Domis will continue to build inspiring new schemes and delight clients across the UK.” Kingsley Thornton comments: “Lee has been a fantastic leader, mentor and friend to me over the last few years and, speaking on behalf of all of the Domis team, we thank him for his commitment to building our business and pushing us to be ambitious and successful. Now as Managing Director of Domis, I am looking forward to taking the business forward into a new phase, building on the success Lee and I enjoyed together as we deliver more high-quality schemes in places around the UK where new homes are in shortest supply and highest demand.” Simon Ismail, Managing Director of Salboy, concludes: “Together with Fred Done, Salboy’s founder and biggest supporter, I want to thank Lee McCarren for the enormous contribution he has made not only to the Domis business but to the skylines of Manchester, Salford and many other cities across the UK. Lee has been a fantastic leader who has built a hugely capable and ambitious team at Domis who have a proven track record of executing to the highest standards on each and every scheme they take on. Kingsley has the Board’s full support and confidence to continue in Lee’s footsteps.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

THREE industry heavyweights have joined the senior team at Miller Knight, one of the fastest-growing construction companies in the East Midlands. Previously long-serving senior directors at Derbyshire-headquartered G F Tomlinson, Chris Flint, Andrew Foster and Jamie Braybrook, have moved across to Miller Knight to add significant strength and expertise to its structure. The trio will boost Miller Knight’s market share with ambitious plans to sustainably expand its service offerings within the regional construction market. Chris Flint, former MD at GFT, is Miller Knight’s new regeneration director. Andrew Foster has been made commercial director and Jamie Braybrook is chief estimator. Chris said: “The rise and rise of Miller Knight is something that excited me – and I wanted to be part of the company’s growth, helping to further support its expansion and capability. “After meeting Miller Knight chief executive David Dickson, and the other directors and visiting many of their current construction sites, I was not only impressed by how the business was set up – but also by the commitment of the staff and the company’s collaborative working approach.” A £24 million turnover market leading multi-discipline principal contractor formed two decades ago, Mansfield-headquartered Miller Knight is primarily known for its specialist divisions dedicated to remedial fire protection. The company has built its reputation, carrying out complex and sensitive regeneration and refurbishment projects across the UK for the public and private sectors, delivering substantial schemes across education, health, blue light and residential. Chris added: “It is clear to see that Miller Knight’s reputation is increasing and that this ambitious company has a team of directors who have a clear vision for the future and I very much wanted to be part of those plans. “I’m truly excited about using my experience and knowledge of the industry to support the company’s continued growth across both the public and private sectors.” The company has seen an exciting year on year growth for the past seven years with revenues set to double again for this upcoming financial year, with an order book reaching close to £50 million in turnover. David Dickson, chief executive, said: “Adding Chris, Andy and Jamie to our team was an exciting opportunity for us. They are extremely experienced, will be great people to work alongside and will only strengthen our capabilities. We feel honoured to be able to have the opportunity to work with them all and are really looking forward to watching them settle in and helping us to continue to grow. “To date, the company’s growth has been nothing short of extraordinary. We are taking our rightful place among some of the region’s biggest name firms and will no doubt become one of the fastest growing construction companies of 2024. “Businesses are all about people. Here at Miller Knight, we take pride in being a great place to work, we have a great culture, and we have built a fantastic team over the years – and that is the main driver behind our successes to date.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals