The leading construction company under the Construction Manager of the Year Awards says that construction managers and professionals are under-valued by the UK.

Professional management skills in the construction sector are under-recognised, says the firm which had the best management record in sector's annual awards.

BAM Construct UK's Chief Executive, Graham Cash, said: "Traditionally the business world seems to expect managers to wear a suit and tie and sit behind a desk in an office. In our sector, they wear hard hats and reinforced boots and work in temporary accommodation. That image has deceived many into under-valuing the skills that our professionals possess.


"A construction manager not only has to manage a multi-million pound budget, often on tight margins, but he or she - and we do have women managers - also has to manage a very complex technical challenge and one subject to significant regulation.

"When it comes to managing people, construction professionals have literally hundreds and sometimes thousands of people to manage from specialists to labourers, whether employees, sub-contractors, or apprentices.

"Many people talk in business about managing risk. Our people live with it in every sense. There is a high degree of susceptibility to risk from what they find in the ground but also from the elements threatening the budget and the timetable - and they live daily in a potentially hazardous environment."

Mr Cash was speaking ahead of the Chartered Industry of Building’s (CIOB’s) annual Construction Manager of the Year Awards (CMYA) in which BAM managers have proven themselves the country's most successful, winning between them nine silver or gold awards over the past four years.

(CD)