Leadership, Culture and Retention: Why Construction Must Change From the Inside Out

Construction remains one of the UK’s most important and opportunity-rich industries, with forecasts predicting continued growth across infrastructure and major projects in 2026.  

Yet behind that growth sits a growing challenge around leadership, retention and culture. These are issues that are now impacting delivery across the sector. Projects are becoming more complex, margins tighter, regulations heavier and yet teams are expected to deliver more with fewer people. At the heart of the challenge lies a difficult truth: the industry is struggling not only to attract talent, but to retain and develop it. Insights from a recent panel discussion at the Construction North Expo, featuring Dee Airey, Emma Ratcliffe and Renée Preston highlighted just how urgent the issue has become.  

Leadership Gaps Are Putting Pressure on Projects

Opening the discussion, Dee Airey identified three major challenges currently affecting the sector: finding talent, retaining talent, and leadership. “People are leaving jobs much quicker than they used to years ago,” she explained, resulting in inconsistency across long-term projects and increasing pressure on delivery teams. 

One of the most powerful themes to emerge was the issue of leadership development. Too often, highly capable technical professionals are promoted into management positions on the strength of their technical performance, but without the critical training or support needed to help them lead people effectively. 

“We are not training our managers,” Dee said. “We’re relying on their excellence of performance of the job they have done thus far to indicate they’ll be great people managers.” 

That sentiment strongly resonated with Emma Ratcliffe, Head of Business Development at Morgan Sindall Construction, who spoke openly about the growing pressures facing site teams today. 

“It’s not about working harder but working smarter,” Emma explained. “Leadership is so topical… you’re creating a culture on site.” 

Emma highlighted that project managers are no longer simply responsible for programme delivery. They are leading people, managing supply chains, navigating increasing regulatory pressures, and shaping workplace culture. Without the right environment, spearheaded and shaped by strong leaders, retention becomes tricky. 

“It can be a real issue if you’ve not created the correct culture on site where people want to be and want to stay,” she said. 

Why Site Culture Is Becoming a Retention Issue

Culture became a central focus of the discussion, particularly around inclusion and psychological safety within construction environments. Renée Preston, CEO of Gallaway Construction and founder of Construction for Women, shared deeply personal experiences that revealed why many people still leave the industry prematurely. 

“I feel like a Trojan Horse, I’m supporting women into an industry that I know is broken,” Renée said candidly. “I know from lived experience that the culture is wrong.” 

Renée described experiences of intimidation and abuse on construction sites and explained how these challenges led to the creation of the National Site Standard (NSS), designed to improve site culture and welfare standards across the built environment. 

Importantly, the NSS is not solely focused on women. As Renée explained, “The NSS supports everybody.” The initiative aims to create safer, more inclusive, and more supportive environments that improve retention, wellbeing and productivity for all workers. 

Construction’s Skills Shortage Starts With Perception

The panel also explored the root causes of the industry’s skills shortage. While shortages certainly exist in key trades and technical roles, the issue is also one of perception and early engagement. 

“At one of our Next Work mentoring events, 90% of people who came in at the early stages of their career did not come to be in construction,” Emma revealed. “It was through pure coincidence.” 

Construction continues to battle outdated stereotypes — “unclean, unsafe, miserable, rainy” — despite offering diverse, creative and highly rewarding career opportunities. Renée reitarated that the sector has failed to market itself properly. 

“We need to see construction as something that needs to be marketed,” she said. “Hospitality markets themselves, so does fashion, so why are we not doing it?” 

Both Emma and Renée stressed the importance of engaging with schools, colleges and universities far earlier. Through mentoring initiatives, taster days, and programmes such as the NSS, the industry has an opportunity to reshape perceptions and introduce young people to the breadth of careers available across construction. 

The Industry’s Future Depends on Investing in People

Closing the conversation, Dee Airey offered perhaps the most powerful reminder of all: 

“Construction is the most creative industry in the world, without construction we have nothing. It’s also the most collaborative, with so many moving parts.” 

The message from the panel was clear: if the construction industry wants to solve its workforce crisis, it must invest not only in smart recruitment, but in leadership training, culture development, education partnerships and long-term retention. The future of the industry depends on it.