Lennard praises UK government support for construction

The new chief executive of Constructing Excellence (CE) has admitted that the government's ongoing support to the construction industry was one of the main reasons he returned to the UK to take up the post.

Australian Dennis Lenard, who will live permanently in the capital for the duration of his CE contract, was previously in Manchester in between 2000 and 2002 where he enjoyed a two-year stint as the founding director of the Centre for Construction Innovation North West.

Although it is believed other high profile industry figures admitted privately that uncertainty about funding had put them off applying for the position, it was not an issue for Lenard.

"This government has been highly supportive to construction industry for the past 30 years or so," said Lenard. "It has a totally different attitude to Australia where the government will include the industry as part of its political agenda until that agenda has gone.

"The UK government appreciates that construction creates plenty of wealth and that's why it has invested so heavily in it," he said.

The new board for CE, created in July by the merger of Rethinking Construction and Construction Best Practice, is due to be decided tomorrow (Thursday) and is expected to feature a dozen members drawn from the Department of Trade & Industry as well as representatives from industry subsectors.