Sisk CEO Paul Browne talks to Irish Construction Industry Magazine about the firm’s strategic priorities in 2025 and beyond and driving the business forward

How is business at Sisk?
Business is good. In Ireland we’re in a strong position and in the UK, business is also strong but it’s a much tougher, more competitive market. Our European business is going from strength to strength. So overall, we’re pretty pleased with our current position. Obviously, there are some challenges but we’re working every day to overcome those.

What are some of those challenges?
Stalled pipelines of work can pose problems in terms of ensuring we’re resource-ready when those projects finally get the go-ahead. External factors include the tariff issue which is impacting investment appetite in the short to medium term. That kind of uncertainty is difficult – as of yet, we don’t know how these proposed tariffs will impact life sciences and pharmaceutical spends over the next few years or in the short term. I think there are also challenges around the regulation process and ensuring it goes as smoothly as possible. All that contractors like ourselves want is a well-funded pipeline and good visibility, so we know when projects like Metrolink are coming up. I think these challenges aren’t anything that we can’t handle and overall, the Irish market is buoyant.

The infrastructure market looks really strong and the pipeline is as good as it has ever been. Turning that into a reality is the next step but that’s not entirely in our control. Some of it is in the Government’s hands but I’m seeing good signs that there’s a will to utilise the current strength of the Irish economy to get these long-talked about projects started in the next five years.

In terms of innovation at Sisk, can you give me a couple of examples?
Two and a half years ago, we launched our “Breaking new Ground” strategy, which outlines our five strategic priorities – people and culture; net zero; digital transformation; modern methods of construction (MMC); and quality of earnings. We’ve made huge investments in our teams and in our capabilities in the two and a half years since. That has culminated in creating something called an integrated sustainable solutions team, an ISS. That team is working to push boundaries with clients, consultants and with the supply chain around new innovative ways of working, whether that be designing with more sustainability in mind or being more efficient throughout the design process.

A good example would be the low carbon technology project which we undertook at our Wembley site in London. We secured a half a million pound investment from Innovate UK and brought Ecocem over, who produced a low carbon cement with a local concrete company. The aim was to encourage the use of low carbon concrete over the next two to three years. We know that in construction, 70% of our carbon comes from a combination of steel and concrete. If we can reduce that figure, we can really start to make a difference.

How do you attract staff and more importantly, how do you keep them?
That’s the million dollar question! We currently have two and a half thousand staff but the last five years have definitely been challenging, for all businesses. I think Covid has changed the whole landscape around how you retain staff and what’s important to employees. Many people took an opportunity to rethink their priorities and as a result, I think all businesses saw a lot of movement. We were not immune, but I’m pleased to say that has settled down significantly. Our attrition rates are down from 19% to 13% on average. To retain our staff, we invest a lot of money, people and time. One of our strategic priorities is around people and culture – that’s where we have looked at our intake, how we bring people into the business, and how we onboard them. We’ve looked at their line managing experience and at our graduate programme, which we’re doing a full holistic review of at the moment. If you can instil your culture into people early, you find that generally people will be satisfied, but there’s always more work to do.

Do you have policies in place to help mind the mental health of your staff?
We absolutely do. I’ve been CEO for three and a half years and before that, I held a position on the main board. My predecessor, Steve Bowcott, placed huge importance on mental health in the workplace and he really led the way in upskilling Sisk on this topic. In 2024, we launched our peer support programme, an internally designed program based on engagement training.

It was specifically designed by us from learnings over the past five or six years. In addition, for the first time we’re holding our inaugural mental health roundtable with eight key members of our supply chain from across the UK and Ireland. We’re going to come together in Dublin to collaborate, share some challenges and learnings around mental health and start to dig deeper into our supply chain.

How are you finding the new HQ in Citywest?
We moved in a year ago and it’s been a huge success. It’s a great facility to work in and we’re seeing increased numbers coming back into the office. Obviously, there are people who require flexibility and that’s fine, but I think it’s a really positive sign that we’re seeing so many people coming back into the office. We’re see a lot more engagement thanks to the way the office is designed. People have to pass other departments to move from one place to another and that improves communication.

Currently, we’re on a programme to double staff numbers at our headquarters. We’ve also just opened a new office in Cork and we’ve designed it on the same parameters as our Citywest office. We’re looking to roll out that design in more offices around the UK and Ireland in the next year or so.

Sisk is also focused on digital transformation this year
It’s one of our strategic priorities. Even if you leave aside clients, our staff are demanding that we go on this journey of digital transformation. We’ve got a significant number of younger people in our industry who are very tech savvy and they want to work for a business that supports that journey. It also drives our productivity. We’ve carried out a number of studies around various elements of digital platforms, whether that be BIM or 4D planning.

Tech initiatives like that are driving productivity across our projects and when we link that up to our clients, it’s enabling us to communicate with more clarity to our customers. Rather than talk about drawings, we’re bringing clients on live 4D sequential run-throughs on how we’re going to build that project.

Can you mention a couple of projects that are due for completion?
The Limerick to Foynes railway is due for completion this year. That’s a significant project consisting of over 42km of track. We’re also set to complete two flagship hospital projects in Limerick – the University Hospital Limerick and the Bon Secours Private Hospital. In Dublin, we’ve just completed some really strong residential projects. In the UK, we’re continuing our journey at Wembley Park. We’re also aiming to complete the Manchester City Football Club this time next year.

You have over three years as CEO under your belt. How are you finding the role?
I’m very pleased with progress to date, but I think there’s further improvements we can make as a business, both internally and in terms of how we consistently deliver for our customers. Currently, we’re very focused on how we can drive consistency, how we can drive accountability and how we can drive improvements in our business and in our customer experience. There’s so much potential for this organisation, both in terms of the geographies we work in and the services we provide.

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Michael McDonnell Managing Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine & Plan Magazine

Email: michael@irishconstruction.com      WWW.MCDMEDIA.IE