Clare Wood, Director at Turner & Townsend
Tell us about your role at Turner & Townsend.
I am director of infrastructure across Yorkshire and the North East. My area covers Northumberland to South Yorkshire and includes our offices in Newcastle, Teesside, Leeds and Sheffield.
I manage a team of 60 and I lead the business unit, which covers bidding and business generation, business strategy planning, budget management and resources and delivering the very best for our clients.
What services does the organisation provide?
Turner & Townsend is a world-leading professional services company, with over 100 offices across the globe. We offer independent advice, transforming performance to safeguard the commercial interest of clients embarking on investment programmes across real estate, infrastructure and natural resources.
We deliver services covering the full spectrum of consultancy, project delivery and post-project operations.
What’s your proudest business achievement?
My proudest business achievement was being appointed director of infrastructure project management for Yorkshire and the North East. I have been at Turner & Townsend for eight years and have progressed from a senior project manager, to associate director and now to my current position.
I am very grateful the organisation believes in me and has supported me on my career journey. I have been involved in several challenging projects which have helped me gain skills and experience to support my development.
I am also incredibly proud of the Turner & Townsend team. It has seen huge growth and we have a brilliant ethos. We have also developed a fantastic graduate programme which is attracting and developing the skill set of young people; this is our future and I am proud we are focusing and investing in this area.
I’m one of five Mental Health First-Aiders in the region and knowing that I have positively impacted even one person, makes me immensely proud. Studying Human Cybernetics at Reading University, I never imagined my career would include this role, but aside from how incredibly important it is, I have found that being a Mental Health First-Aider has drawn out of me the human side, the compassion, the empathetic side of me and that has had a positive impact when engaging with clients. I take a moment to stop, reflect and question whether there is some context as to why a client has said (or not said) something in a certain way.
What challenges have you encountered?
COVID-19 has certainly been a challenge and has very much changed the way we work, particularly at the beginning of the pandemic. I spent a lot of timetalking to the team and to clients to ensure I was very visible and accessible to them.
Fortunately, we have developed strong client relationships and even though, in the early months, we couldn’t physically be with them, they trusted the team to get the job done and we all worked harder than we have ever done to ensure consistency and to keep communication flowing.
Each year we look for growth both in the business and in the quality and size of the team, the latter being a challenge as good people are very much in demand. That said, we are prepared to wait to get the right person based on their expertise and our sense that they will be strong team players who will support our business ethos and enhance our team spirit.
Being a mum and a wife and trying to progress with a career is always a challenge and one that I am not sure I always got right or was successful with at times. My husband provided wholehearted support, he took more than his fair share at times when I was busy and overall, I feel we all benefitted from this shared responsibility. Not only has this allowed me to achieve my aspirations, but I also feel like I have set a great example to our children, that with hard work and focus they can achieve and be what they want to be.
How has the industry changed since you arrived at the company?
The industry is continually evolving, sustainability and legacy is now a huge focus for us and many of our projects have carbon net zero as an essential outcome. Turner & Townsend has launched our new Purpose, Values & Vision as part of our 75th Anniversary which sets our ambition for the next stage of our journey. At the heart of this has been how to we create a better industry which can help solve some of the big problems faced by society.
Clients are also looking for digitisation and our services are evolving with that in mind. New software is available with lean processing and efficiency a high priority. Our suite of digital products is increasing to provide assurance, transparency, and clear/real time easy-to-interpret reporting to clients.
Who are your heroes in and out of work?
Outside of work my hero is my 22-year-old daughter. She is a nurse, working in a covid environment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. It has been unbelievably tough for her, so young in such a terrible situation but she is stronger than she knows, and she is my inspiration.
The team at Turner & Townsend continues to inspire me. Graeme Braithwaite, a director and my line manager, who brought me in to the company is someone I very much admire and I am extremely proud of all of my team, who have really pulled together during the pandemic. We have fantastic camaraderie and it is a very positive environment to work within.
Is there a mantra you always aspire to do business by?
Be open and fair. I try to always give an honest and open answer to a question. I will also decline to do something that I couldn’t do to the best of my ability or something that I don’t believe is fair to everyone involved.
How do you like to unwind?
I like to spend time with my family and friends, be that walking our border terrier, Tilly. I also enjoy barre and yoga classes and my happy place is in the garden.
