Our Speakers
Chris Baker
Director, Willmott Dixon
Chris Baker
Director, Willmott Dixon
With extensive experience in senior construction and procurement leadership roles, Chris is known for delivering complex projects and promoting strong governance and ethical standards. His expertise spans project delivery, procurement strategy, and collaborative leadership, enabling organisations to achieve sustainable value and improved performance. In this webinar, Chris will share practical insights on project delivery and how to implement strategies to strengthen outcomes.
Paul Roberts
Director and Founder of Hive Projects
Paul Roberts
Director and Founder of Hive Projects
As an experienced Project Director and one of the founding members of Hive Projects, Paul has an exceptional reputation for delivering high-quality schemes for clients and with a genuine commitment to all aspects of sustainability. With over 18 years’ experience, Paul has played an integral part in shaping the built environment, taking the lead on complex Business Cases and leading on the design and delivery of major capital construction projects and programmes.
Paul has worked as both a consultant and within client organisations in the public and private sectors offering a forward-thinking approach drawing upon his expertise of working across the property and construction sectors. In this webinar, Paul will be sharing insights from working alongside Oldham Council to deliver this project.
Chris Lewis
Asst. Director Creating a Better Place
Chris Lewis
Asst. Director Creating a Better Place
Chris Lewis is Head of Transformation at Oldham Council, leading a place-based outcomes approach that brings together residents, public services and partners to support long-term regeneration across the borough. As a member of the Strategic Design Authority, he works with the Executive Management Team to deliver whole-system change across health, housing, education and the voluntary sector. With over 30 years’ experience across the public, private and NHS sectors, Chris specialises in strategic and operational transformation, regeneration and partnership working. He also serves as an Executive Board Member of iNetwork, supporting collaboration and innovation across public services.
Conor Neild Crabb (Panel Host)
Head of Centre, CCBP
Conor Neild Crabb (Panel Host)
Head of Centre, CCBP
Conor Neild-Crabb is Head of Centre at the Centre for Construction Best Practice, where he leads research and industry engagement focused on improving outcomes across the built environment sector. Since entering the construction industry in 2012, Conor has worked across principal contracting and construction procurement, giving him a strong understanding of delivery, commercial risk and market trends. With a background spanning construction procurement, a marketing and teaching degree, and more recently a master’s degree in Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management, Conor specialises in sustainable procurement, lifecycle costing, and embodied carbon. In his current role, he champions evidence-based approaches to improving value and long-term performance in the built environment sector.
Register free
This online webinar will provide exclusive insights into the tangible benefits of early contractor involvement, taking lessons from an award-winning regeneration scheme.
Sign up to the webinarThis session will provide an early, exclusive insight into findings from CCBP’s government-backed research into early contractor involvement, which examines hundreds of projects across the UK, and how the timing of contractor appointment affects cost certainty, risk, buildability and sustainability.
Alongside the research, the panel will focus on how early contractor engagement can support stronger design coordination, adaptive reuse and more confident delivery in complex regeneration schemes.
At the heart of the discussion is Oldham Council’s Spindles redevelopment, the first phase of a wider programme to transform a former shopping centre into a community-focused civic and cultural hub for Oldham.
Through close collaboration between Oldham Council, Willmott Dixon and Hive Projects, early contractor involvement enabled the project team to work together to unlock viability, respond to the building’s existing structure and embed place-making principles from the outset.
Recognised with multiple BCO Innovation Awards, the scheme demonstrates how ECI can move beyond risk management and cost control to actively transform town-centres.
Bringing together perspectives from a public sector client, contractor, and consultant, this webinar will offer practical insights into how early collaboration can support place-led regeneration, and what public sector clients and delivery teams can take forward on future projects.
Project partners at Oldham Spindles, celebrating the BCO Northern Innovation Award inside the transformed civic hub
Register free
This online webinar will provide exclusive insights into the tangible benefits of early contractor involvement, taking lessons from an award-winning regeneration scheme.
Sign up to the webinar
Why Attend?
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Understand how Early Contractor Involvement influences place-making and community outcomes
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Learn how early collaboration unlocked viability at Spindles Town Centre Redevelopment
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Ask your questions to a panel of private and public sector experts
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Hear honest reflections from all sides of the delivery team
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Gain early insight into CCBP’s national research study into early contractor involvement