New Osborne Head of Strategy for Construction Talks Star Wars

In the latest Opinion Piece in Construction News, Caroline Compton-James reflects on her recent appointment as Head of Strategy for Construction at Osborne.

“Having previously worked as a civil servant in the Cabinet Office Construction Team, it was no great surprise that news of my moving to Osborne as their Head of Strategy for Construction was greeted by some with raised eyebrows.

With comments such as “You’re moving over to the Dark Side”  ringing in my ears, and with the heightened excitement in my family at the recent release of the new Star Wars film, I took a moment to reflect upon my observations as a new comer to the so-called Dark Side.

Whilst in the civil service I was fortunate to work on the government construction strategy, the overarching aim of which was to deliver savings in construction. One of the mechanisms to realise savings is for clients to consider the use of collaborative, integrated models of procurement that maintain competitive tension and the ability to demonstrate value for money.

I was attracted to Osborne because of its collaborative culture and how this translates into being a truly customer focussed business. Within construction, all of our current order book is being negotiated or procured on a collaborative two-stage approach.

Osborne is one of the main contractors on the Cabinet Office’s New Models of Construction Procurement (NMCP) property services cluster trial project, using a two-stage open book process. It is also the first contractor to be awarded the Institute of Customer Service ServiceMark accreditation.

Collaboration drives efficiency and innovation across the business from our property services contract with Dacorum Borough Council to the One Team Wessex framework with Network Rail.

In Star Wars, George Lucas created a legacy, taking ordinary people and putting them at the centre of extraordinary events. At its core, Osborne has a desire to create a legacy for our customers too; working in partnership to deliver service led solutions across construction, infrastructure, property services and development.

Please do get in touch, and don’t be surprised if you see a lightsaber peeking out of my handbag!”