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Introduction
Welcome to our NEC People Conference for 2025 in Glasgow, which has evolved from our highly successful NEC People LinkedIn user group.
Special thanks go to our lead sponsor CECA Scotland, and all of our other sponsors who allow this event to happen for the industry.
NEC People Conferences are intended to be for experienced users of NEC contracts to come together and network with fellow industry professionals and listen to engaging presentations in order or share and develop knowledge.
HIGHLIGHTS REEL
Video courtesy of CECA Scotland, cecascotland.co.ukSpeakers
Alistair specialises in contentious construction and engineering matters in Scotland. He has been a solicitor for 30 years and has 20 years of experience advising a range of clients in the construction sector, including main contractors, sub-contractors, construction professionals, developers, trade bodies and house-builders. Alistair is able to give advice and representation on adjudications, Court of Session actions, Sheriff Court actions, mediations and arbitrations. Alistair is also on the Law Society of Scotland adjudicator's panel and has received a number of appointments as adjudicator.
Andy Thompson is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, but one who has spent the last 20 years working in, on and around NEC Contracts, predominantly in the Highways Sector in the UK and Ireland. He is proud to say that none of those projects have ever needed to go to a formal dispute. Today he mixes the roles of NEC Project Manager – he is currently PM on 3 NEC ECC Projects, and Employer’s Representative on another contract under the Irish Public Works form – and delivering NEC Training and independent Consultancy through his own company, drawing on that current, real life experience. He has worked on the development, tendering and implementation of NEC’s of (almost!) all types and sizes and spanning ECC, PSC and TSC and their various short and subcontract variants.
Barry Trebes FRICS, FAPM, FInstCES is Director of Trebes Consulting Limited: A construction professional with over 30 years’ experience in major projects including transportation, infrastructure, utilities, building projects in the UK and overseas. Procurement experience across a wide range of market sectors. Developed and led NEC training and advice support services in Needleman’s and initiated collaboration with MPS Limited in 1998 to development of the first web-based NEC contract management system named CCM. An active contributor to the body of knowledge on NEC3 and NEC 4 contracts which including co-authoring ‘Managing Reality’ a 5 book set on the practical administration of NEC3 and NEC4 ECC contracts, NEC3/4 ECC Role of the Project Manager, NEC3/4 ECC Role of the Supervisor, NEC4 TSC Role of the Service Manager, Global Risk Assessment Strategic Planning all published by ICE publishing with the objective of giving practical advice and support in the use of the NEC and project risk. Experienced trainer and facilitator.
Widely respected for his extensive experience with contract management and digital transformation, Walker founded CEMAR in 2003 to help large-scale infrastructure projects manage New Engineering Contracts (NEC) and International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) contracts. CEMAR proved instrumental in delivering iconic projects for National Highways, Nuclear New Build, ITER, Heathrow Airport, HS2, Network Rail, and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Its rapid adoption across the industry led to its acquisition by Thinkproject in 2018.
Director of Sodak Limited and Principal Behavioural Scientist. Bob is the founder and Director of Sodak Limited, whose goal is to challenge and improve much of the current entrenched thinking around human performance management and leadership. With over 30 experience years in construction, he has worked for Contractors and Clients in both the private and public sector. Bob is a graduate of Portsmouth University, an Advisor to the Cambridge Center for Behavioural Studies in the USA and currently undertaking a doctorate in Responsible Business Leadership. Bob has been studying and applying behavioural science since 2005. He has successfully used it to dramatically improve the business performance of a number of companies here in the UK and also Canada and the US.
Brad Cahill brings a strong background in finance, analytics and business growth, combined with over six years of experience at the Canal & River Trust, supporting the operation and maintenance of more than 2,000 miles of waterways across the UK. This experience gave him valuable insight into the complexities of asset-intensive environments and infrastructure management.
Since joining Digital Beehive, Brad has built up a deep knowledge of the NEC suite of contracts, applying this expertise to help clients navigate contractual frameworks and unlock opportunities for more efficient project delivery. He takes a consultative approach, ensuring that discovery of each project’s unique needs forms the foundation of the solutions we provide.
With his dual perspective on finance and contracts, Brad is playing a key role in shaping the adoption of digital tools globally by building partnerships that create lasting value for clients and the wider industry.
Business Development Executive, RPCuk. Chris joined RPCuk in 2020 but has been working in the project controls arena for 13 years. The last 10 of these have been spent dealing with software solutions for the likes of Oracle and Aconex, giving him extensive experience across a wide array of organisations within the public and private sectors and across a number of specialist disciplines, such as document control, cost management and change management – predominantly NEC contracts. With this background, he is both excited and wellplaced to help RPC to bring their innovative Oracle Primavera Unifier Solution Sets to market. He fully understands the need – common to all industries using NEC4 contracts – for an efficient, trusted and integrated solution that offers compliance, a high level of control, collaborative working practices and a reliable way to mitigate risk and has extensive experience in working with clients to shape the solution that best meets their requirements.
Dr Jon Broome has over twenty-five years involvement with the NEC family of contracts as an academic, author, trainer and consultant. As an academic, Jon studied under one of its two co-instigators gaining the world’s first PhD through applied research on its use.His finding was fed back into the second edition and third editions, for which his contributions were acknowledged. He has also led the development of the Professional Services Short Contract, in developing the concept and drafting the clauses.As an author, he has numerous articles and academic papers published, is the author of the highly praised book ‘NEC: A User’s Guide’ series of books (with the NEC4 version published last year) and, together with Glenn Hide, wrote the NEC3 eLearning Academy from Built Intelligence.As a trainer, he has delivered over 800 days of training around the world on all aspects of the contract.As a consultant, he prefers to be involved in the front end helping develop contract strategy, particularly for complex projects, from which he has written additional clauses, critiqued and developed the other contract clauses, helped run the selection process and then trained the team
Gary holds the position of Commercial Manager for GRAHAM, having worked exclusively for tier one contractors for 25+ years on £100m - £600mm major civil engineering projects in the highways, water, power and nuclear sectors. Gary is an expert user of the NEC suit of contracts, as well as experience using FIDIC contract for international clients. Also a member of the RICS & CIArb and have a MSc in Construction Law and Dispute resolution from Kings College, London, with expert knowledge and experience of adjudication and have also been involved with arbitration.
Glenn Hide: Director of GMH Planning Ltd which for over 18 years has provided specialist training/consultancy and management resources to those working and administering under the NEC family of contracts. His engaging practical training style has led to a large proportion of the industry calling on GMH Planning for their NEC contract training. Glenn has presented on aspects of the contract at various national conferences and had published into the industry a number of articles. Glenn is the founder of the NEC People LinkedIn Group from which this annual conference has emerged which now has over 12,200 active users and by far the biggest discussion forum for NEC in the UK.
As Chief Executive of CECA Scotland, Grahame Barn leads the organisation in supporting civil engineering contractors across Scotland. He is a strong advocate for skills development and plays a key role in shaping training initiatives that bridge the industry’s skills gap. Grahame is passionate about creating opportunities for the next generation of civil engineers. His work with the CECA Scotland Academy ensures that students gain the knowledge, hands-on experience, and industry connections they need to thrive in the sector. He actively engages with government, industry leaders, and training bodies to promote fair procurement practices and enhance workforce development.
Through his leadership, CECA Scotland continues to strengthen partnerships between education and industry, ensuring a skilled and sustainable workforce for the future of civil engineering in Scotland.
Jillian Ferguson: is a Civil Engineer with over 30 years of experience in local government working within both Roads and Planning Services. She is currently Perth & Kinross Council’s Roads Infrastructure Manager, and in this role is responsible for the successful delivery of the Council’s Capital major infrastructure projects. This ranges from environmental improvement schemes to large infrastructure projects, the most recent being the £150million Cross Tay Link Road Project. All projects are adminstered as NEC contracts. Jillian very much favours collaborative working and believes her one team approach plays a signficant part in delivering projects on time and within budget. Jillian and her team have been recognised nationally for their successful approach to procurement and project delivery utilising NEC.
Neil is a quantity surveyor and project manager with over 30 years of experience in procuring and managing NEC contracts in the UK construction industry. He is a recognised expert in NEC contracts and as a trainer has delivered over 1,000 NEC Training courses, spoken at numerous national/international conferences, authored articles and had his work published. Neil’s article on key dates is cited in Dr Jon Broome’s NEC4: A User’s Guide which also includes a write-up of a workshop on collaborative working under NEC held at the NEC People Conference which he co-facilitated with Jon. Through his work across many sectors of industry over the years he has built up an extensive practical knowledge of the NEC contracts and how to set them up and manage them to improve the likelihood of successful outcomes from your projects and services.
Ross is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over 24 years of experience within Local Authority Roads Services and Scottish Government Trunk Road contracts. He has worked with various versions of NEC for more than 10 years and fulfilled the roles of Supervisor, Client and Project Manager. His currently role is to lead a team responsible for delivery of detailed design and construction of the Council’s largest capital infrastructure projects. Most recently he has helped to develop and manage an innovative type of ECI contract to meet the Council’s objectives for the recently completed Cross Tay Link Road project, assisting with drafting and administering the contract as well as leading a team of professionals that fulfilled the role of Supervisor.
