Written by Deborah Le, Principal Consultant - Interim Internal and CHange Communications

The construction and property sector has experienced some very interesting and challenging times in the last 12 months. From the Grenfell incident that shocked the nation in June last year, to the unexpected collapse of Carillion, resulting in thousands of job losses.

As consultants from VMAGROUP’s Internal Communications Practice, Kristy and I met with several communications specialists from the construction and property sector to understand the impact they have had on employee engagement, as well as discuss some topical issues that may pose as threats to this industry.

The breakfast meeting was attended by:

• Chris Mostyn – Head of Marketing and Communications at Murphy

• Jade Eva – Head of Internal Communications at Mitie

• Richard Howat – Head of Employee Communications at Balfour Beatty

• Tim Collins – Head of Corporate Communications at Barratt Developments

Following the collapse of Carillion and the Grenfell incident, how has this impacted the construction and property sector, and in particular, how do you feel reputational management has been delivered so far?
There certainly has been some unhealthy comparisons with Carillion, and the media has a tendency to exaggerate on negative stories. From an IC perspective, it’s felt that it is particularly important at this time to remind the workforc