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CEO of Wade Construction Management Consultants, Daniel set up the company in 2018 with a vision for a better, more collaborative way of working within construction. Wade projects are currently focused within the pharmaceutical and life science sectors, working to specifically accelerate the delivery of medicine worldwide.

The Why…

“Simply put, there’s not enough collaboration in industry.

Before I established Wade, I had a lot of experience working with a tier 1 contractor and I’d worked on some brilliant projects – but across the sector, teams weren’t communicating, companies were straining to manage projects and that had huge knock-on effects for suppliers and contractors further down the line. I wanted to create an organisation that not only completed incredible sites that did amazing things, I wanted to be sure that the supply chain was safeguarded in a different way – a far more collaborative way.

And that’s Wade.

We use a process that is based around the construction model behind the Empire State Building – a single source of truth effectively managing tier 2 contractors to produce the end result with the highest standards of safety and craftsmanship as standard. The Empire State Building is one of the most famous buildings in the world and it was constructed in record time, it’s still hugely admired and a fantastic example of how working together can produce incredible results.”

The Successes…

“I can categorically say that the team behind Wade is the biggest success so far. The people within the business are so unbelievably dedicated and committed to the way that we work and the impact we are having on the industry it is just incredible to see.
We had been shortlisted for a really prestigious award and on the night I took a minute to stop and think, ‘we got here, it’s incredible’, and everyone on the table was excited and invested with me too. We didn’t take home the award, but, seeing the genuine disappointment on the team’s faces when our name wasn’t announced really identified just how passionate and invested they are in what we are doing and how we are doing it – and I could not be more proud.

We’re building a Culture with Wade. We are incredibly proud to work on some life-changing projects and helping shape a better way of working in the industry, but at the core of absolutely all of that is the people within it. I want our teams to be confident and respected with their work, but I want them to be passionate too; we’re seeing that and it’s just such an achievement. We’re growing our teams and always on the look out for the best candidates, but it’s really about ensuring we grow that culture alongside everything too that’s so important.”

The Challenges…

“The perception of true value is something I talk about a lot. Construction is an industry that is driven by cost – cost saving, cost of materials, cost of people’s time etc, but Value is often neglected. Cost is simply an output of time, materials etc, value is harder to articulate, but should reflect the effort of defining the most appropriate scope or design that safeguards the project, the client, the contractors and ultimately, the people within it. Balancing the two is one of the biggest challenges within the industry right now and that’s one of the main ambitions of Wade; to help define a better way of working.”

“Secondly, talent. It’s a huge concern within construction.

Finding and retaining key individuals is absolutely vital to the evolution of the sector as a whole and for too long the perception of people in the sector as ‘rough and ready’ hasn’t changed. It’s often about fixed hours, temporary facilities for welfare and quite intense roles and that doesn’t create a desirable environment for many looking at the industry, especially from a young age. Times change, though – and the opportunities are really exciting. Advances in technology are being adopted and the social value we deliver is genuinely incredible. We want to let more young people consider Construction as a viable and desirable career choice, and we want talented workers to stay within the industry too, but now the conversation needs to shift towards a new narrative on the realities of working in construction in the modern world, and the impact that can have.

That’s something we are incredibly passionate about at Wade, finding, training, retaining and developing the next generation of industry staff; the ones who are going to lead the next stages of change in construction and we have some really exciting plans on the horizon to help deliver this too.”

The Ambitions and The Future…

“I sometimes forget that Wade is just five years old. The growth and change of the business in that time has been incredible, and it’s positioned us well for the next five years and beyond. But really, the partners we have and the projects we work on are the real future.

Our teams are helping accelerate the delivery of medicine. That is an incredible undertaking, especially in light of recent years and the challenges faced producing and fulfilling vaccines and medications to save and improve lives across the world. Our way of working is designed to enhance the completion of these sites, working in much stronger collaboration with contracts and clients than ever before and I cannot wait to look back in another five years to talk about what we have achieved then.

We will eventually move beyond pharmaceutical and life science sectors, whilst staying within regulated industries where we can continue to add value and accelerate the delivery of projects. Ultimately we are very client-focused and we will continue to invest heavily to develop and improve our relationships, our team and our delivery on our journey to being a partner of choice within the construction industry.”

“We are also incredibly excited to begin plans for the Wade Construction Academy, where we will be heling to raise standards of project professionals as well as improve safety, ambition and skills throughout the sector initially from an internal perspective for our staff. However as a not-for-profit organisation the academy will eventually be available to individuals and organisations from everywhere who believe in the Wade ethos and way of working, who want to train and help deliver projects in a contemporary and discerning way. We’re changing the industry.”

“What I am trying to do is build a business that changes lives for the better. Construction is such an incredibly varied, complex and ever-evolving sector that there are so many voices, trying to shout the loudest about the ‘best’ or right way to work.

I want Wade to show that itself. I know we have incredible people working within the business, I know that the sites we get to work on are going to have positive impact for generations to come, but what I want to see is the industry change too.

I spent much of my youth living in a hotel that my Mum managed, until I was 11 I would spend weeknights watching football from the bridal suite and being surrounded by amazing staff, working together to help keep the wheels of the hotel turning together – perhaps that has had a lasting impression on the type of team I wanted to create – but what I can hand on heart say right now is that Wade is a strong team, dedicated to a collaborative way of working to improve Construction on a large scale, and I could not be more proud or excited for the future”.