Construction Leader: Chris MacLeod tackling complex projects and workforce planning at GRAHAM

In today’s challenging construction sector, successful project delivery depends on more than just technical expertise. Every project involves a network of stakeholders ranging from clients, consultants and contractors to suppliers, local authorities and end users, all with their own priorities and expectations. 

An understanding of how all these interests interact is essential in meeting both commercial and operational objectives, as is the ability to project manage multi-disciplinary teams effectively both in-house and across client organisations. 

These are among the skills brought to the sector by Chris MacLeod, regional director Building North at GRAHAM Construction, the company founded almost 250 years ago which undertook its first project in Scotland in 1985 and now has a turnover of more than £1 billion. 

“The group now delivers complex projects across five divisions – building, civils, engineering, interior fit-out and facilities management,” says Mr MacLeod. 

He has been in the industry for 30 years. “My father was a mechanic and I was always fascinated by how things fitted together when I was holding the torch for him when he was fixing cars in the garage at the weekend,” he recalls fondly. 

“After school I went into a Youth Training Scheme (YTS) in architectural technology, as I was also interested in drawing. Importantly, that taught me how the components of buildings integrated and allowed me to understand the multiple levels of stakeholders involved in construction projects.”

From there he moved to a large, multi-disciplinary construction company, while doing a part-time BSc in construction management at the University of Strathclyde. “I began to take on more responsibility in terms of managing multi-discipline teams in-house for clients,” he says.

That developed into an internal and external project management role. “Everybody was working together, using their own unique skills to overcome challenges and my interest grew in helping to enable teams to work cohesively and effectively,” he says.

Having been at GRAHAM Group for 11 and a half years, he points to the range of private and public sector clients he has dealt with. 

Currently, prominent projects include the St Vincent Studios in Glasgow, a £70 million PBSA (purpose-built student accommodation) joint project with Artisan Real Estate with completion expected this summer. 

There is also Central Quay in Glasgow where GRAHAM has been appointed by Unite Students to deliver a £124.5m development containing 934 student beds in time for the 2027/8 academic year.

This highlights GRAHAM’s extensive experience in delivering private and student accommodation in the city which also includes a £81.5m build-to-rent scheme at Candleriggs Square in the Merchant City and a 551-bed student accommodation complex at 225 Bath Street last year.

Public sector work, he adds, is also an important component of GRAHAM’s activities. Last year saw the group land a £142m deal to overhaul three army sites across Edinburgh for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to deliver new buildings and refurbishments and in the capital, major refurbishment and retrofit work was completed in April at Brunstane Primary School on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council.

Mr MacLeod’s responsibilities also take in Northern Ireland. “I was on a 6am flight to Belfast just yesterday and we have some large developments there. Over the past years there has been an upturn in Northern Ireland in terms of projects being brought to market and an active desire to bring these opportunities to construction stage.”

In 2024, in a move to accelerate city centre living and housing regeneration, Belfast City Council selected GRAHAM as its long-term private sector partner to work alongside the council to deliver residential-led, mixed-use and sustainable developments across multiple sites.

The following year, GRAHAM Interior Fit-Out delivered a two-phase refurbishment project for a global technology company at City Quays 2, Belfast while the group is building Belfast’s first-ever Passivhaus-certified student accommodation in the city centre on behalf of Queen’s University, which will be the city’s first ultra-low emission multi-occupancy building.

“Several of our staff are Passivhaus-trained and accredited and that helps bring that skills set forward for clients. That’s accompanied by an emphasis on digital skills. I can remember starting on drawing boards but even then, BIM (Building Information Modelling) led, data-driven decision making and modern methods of construction were coming to the fore.”

Which leads to discussion of one of the most vexed problems in the construction industry – that of the skills gap. “We’re talking about the need for 40,000 additional workers every year to meet the demand and the big question is how we address that in the industry,” he says.

GRAHAM is now acquiring a dedicated emerging talent advisor in Scotland to help take ownership of that skills gap, says Mr MacLeod. “In addition, our ConstructHER programme is designed to create more opportunities for young women entering the industry and exploring long-term careers in a sector that’s actively addressing talent shortages and gender imbalance. 

“And importantly, more than a quarter of our apprentices are female because of the ConstructHER programme. There has been significant change over the past five years or so in terms of recognition and willingness within the industry to accept the need for a more diverse workforce.”

He adds that 93% of GRAHAM’s trainees remain with the business and that some 15% of the workforce are in structured Earn and Learn routes such as apprenticeships,  graduate placements and NVQs. 

He says it’s known as the GRAHAM Way: “I think it stems from us still being a privately-owned, family business. Our employees matter to its owners and course, our strap line is ‘Delivering Lasting Impact’ in the communities we work in, because many of us are involved in projects very local to where we live.”

This is underpinned by the group’s volunteer community activities, such as recently raising £30,000 for Charlie House Aberdeen, which supports babies, children and young people living with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition in the north east through a food and drink cabin for its construction workers.

“Our charity for 2026 is Glasgow’s Helping Heroes, a city-wide support service for all members of the Armed Forces community living in and around the city,” says Mr MacLeod.

He has, he says, always had a firm belief that good projects come from good communication and members of a high-performing team pulling in the same direction.

“It’s almost like working with a group of friends every day. That means aligning your resources to the same purpose. I do get a kick out of seeing exceptional projects that have taken perhaps three or four years from the planning and design phase going into construction and finally being delivered.”