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Registration open. Register your interest.
Introduction
We are very pleased to announce that the Northern NEC People Conference will return for a third year in Leeds on Tuesday 25th November 2025. The feedback after the 2023 and 2024 events was incredible and proved that there’s a strong demand for a Northern NEC People Conference.
The event is again being held at Cloth Hall Court in Leeds. Delegates will have the chance to ask the speakers about their presentations or any other aspect of NEC contracts, generally in a question time session and of course, there will be plenty of opportunities for networking throughout the day.
After the conference, delegates are invited to join the sponsors and speakers at a drinks reception.
This event is free to attend thanks to our generous sponsors, who this year are: Digital Beehive (Platinum/lead sponsor) and our other Gold sponsors Adjudicate, Plan Ahead, RPC UK, Gather Insights, Trebes and GMH Planning.
Speakers
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.
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.
Dave is a highly experienced commercial consultant with over forty years in the civil engineering industry. Throughout his career, he has specialised in the commercial and contractual delivery of complex projects, with a particular focus on the use and practical application of NEC contracts. A former Commercial Director at Balfour Beatty, Dave has led commercial teams on major schemes across highways, coastal defence, rail and infrastructure, often navigating some of the most challenging commercial, contractual and delivery risks. He is a trusted advisor to clients, contractors and project teams alike. Today, as an independent consultant, Dave works with organisations to unlock stalled projects, resolve disputes and deliver practical, commercially sound solutions to complex problems. Passionate about driving better commercial outcomes across the industry, he is known for his pragmatic approach, clear communication and commitment to building collaborative, contractually disciplined project teams. Dave is the Director of DSR Commercial Services Ltd.
David is a former professional squash player who`s transition into coaching led to a prolific career at England Squash spanning 23 years. David stepped down from his role as England head coach in 2024, and has since been appointed Olympic programme consultant to the Italian National Teams. David has an extensive background in leading high performing teams, having personally coached 3 x World No.1`s, he has also led England to a remarkable 5 x World Team Championship titles, 25 medals at Commonwealth Games and 42 Gold medals at both Junior & Senior European Team Championships. He is well known in his industry for creating a transformational high performance culture; a set of characteristics that are not sport specific, and can be applied to any sector looking to build high performing teams.
Faye is a Director within the Construction Advisory practice of J.S. Held and is a highly experienced Chartered Quantity Surveyor with 30 years’ experience in the construction industry. Faye spent the first 20 years of her career working for various contractors on multimillion-pound projects. She now supports a variety of construction and engineering clients to avoid, mitigate and resolve disputes being regularly involved in dispute resolution processes domestically and internationally working as a quantum expert. She is accredited as a practising member of the Academy of Experts, is an RICS Accredited Expert Witness and has been instructed as an Expert numerous times.
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.
Joe is Business Development Director at Hobson & Porter
With over 20 years of experience in the UK Transmission & Distribution sector, he has a strong track record of delivering complex, multi-disciplinary infrastructure projects.
A collaborative leader, Jonathan works closely with site delivery teams to ensure early engagement and alignment with project objectives. He is committed to maintaining the highest standards of safety and quality, ensuring that contractors uphold best practices throughout project delivery. Jonathan also brings extensive experience in contract management, financial forecasting, and project reporting. His focus on budgetary control, cost forecasting, and stakeholder communication ensures that projects are delivered on time and within budget, supporting the successful completion of critical energy infrastructure across the UK.
Mike is an award winning chartered construction project manager and Sustainability Chair for the National Association of Construction Frameworks with experience of delivering projects in the commercial, leisure, education, private and social housing sectors. As a YORhub Performance & Improvement Manager, Mike has a broad scope including client advice, sustainability, and digital construction.
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.
Nick, a stalwart in the construction software industry with 22 years of experience, is the Managing Director of Digital Beehive. His extensive experience in the construction industry provides a solid foundation for shaping Beehive’s strategic vision and navigating the complexities of the ever-evolving landscape.
