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FACT FILE • Collaboration, pro-bono project • £40,000 budget • Planning granted in early 2014, doors opened June 2014. • Built using shipping containers.

KEITH BLIZZARD PARTNER, SHAKESPEARES LLP

TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER I went to Aston University to read Building Economics and Measurement and after graduation I worked in private practice. During this time I qualified

as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor. Having worked at three different practices and been appointed as an associate, I resigned to set up in practice with a colleague. I was asked to help a

Menta manages the whole space and has a dedicated youth project manager to ensure the space always belongs to the community. The income generated from the café supports the day-to-day running and with courses being provided by the public and private sector there continues to be a hive of activity around the building. “What @TheRec shows is that when

you work together, incredible things can be achieved,” says Bayliss. “The collaboration between public, private and voluntary sectors on this project delivered real results. And this effort now means that skills and aspirations for a community have been raised – without a heavy price tag.”

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Follow @TheRec on Twitter at @_therec

surveyor pal who did home buyer reports with a case of damp. That turned into a life- changing favour: the problem became my first instruction as an independent expert and progressed into an arbitration. I got ‘the bug’ and eventually become a Chartered Arbitrator. Over time we became so busy dealing with construction contract matters that we stopped providing quantity surveying services and joined with the construction team of a firm of solicitors. As I am a CIOB Adjudicator, it seemed appropriate for me to join the CIOB. I completed the application, attended for interview and was accepted for Fellowship.

WHAT ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS AND ANY REGRETS? I have had the variety of the different elements of the

work and I have met, and worked with, some amazing people. When the construction industry is at its best, it is about people working together with one aim in view, to get the project completed. The problem is that the

industry is so fragmented that full co-operation is hard to achieve. In my work I see when jobs go wrong so with our own clients I try to bring that experience to bear in avoiding, or at least limiting, any damage. Personal highlights are

getting my degree, becoming a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, becoming a Chartered Arbitrator and then qualifying as an adjudicator and mediator. I am also very proud to have

been shortlisted for Law Firm Partner of the Year in the Birmingham Law Society Awards in 2014. It is a highlight to have been

accepted by the CIOB and, particularly, the West Midlands Branch. Regarding regrets, I have

none. I try to learn from what I have done and move forward.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS AT THE START OF THEIR CAREER? Remember, advice is free and worth every penny you spend on it! What I have tried to

“The industry is so fragmented that full co-operation is hard to achieve. With my own clients I try to avoid or limit any damage”

do is to be myself. I watch and learn. No-one has exclusivity of

knowledge, so I seek out experienced people, watch what they do and emulate the good things that they do and amend in myself what I think could be done differently. I always try to treat others

in the way I would have them treat me. We live in an ever-changing

world, and industry, so I have always tried to embrace change. To progress in my career,

I have had to work hard so I have made sure that my family knows what I am trying to achieve and why – I do it for them. I am very fortunate as my family is my bedrock.

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Keith Blizzard FCIOB MCIArb is partner at Shakespeares LLP and chair of the CIOB West Midlands branch

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CIOB Q&A