From Apprentice to Director: A career built on experience
Chris began his career with a hammer in hand as a trainee carpenter and now sits as a Director. Along the way, he’s led multi-million-pound infrastructure projects, managed high-pressure data centre programmes, and discovered that he’s much better with people than power tools. When he’s not solving problems on site or mentoring the next generation of leaders, you’ll find him directing community choirs or tending to his beehives. It’s this mix of people-first leadership, practical know-how, and genuine passion that’s shaped a career spanning decades, and counting.
Tell us about your career journey to date
OK, well, I’m quite old, so this might be a long paragraph!
I started out as a carpenter on the YTS, that’s the Youth Training Scheme, back in the mid ’80s. It was a government programme where they’d pay your wages – just under thirty quid a week – while you went out and got a job placement. I spent two years in a joinery shop and was taken on full-time afterwards. I started off making windows and staircases, but they quickly realised I was pretty dangerous with sharp tools… so they gently moved me out of the workshop and into a more office-based role. That was the start of it.
From there, I transitioned into civil engineering and began working on sewage treatment plants, pumping stations, water treatment works – the whole lot. This was in the early ’90s, just after the Latham Report and “Rethinking Construction” had started to make waves. I got involved in the early days of partnering and framework contracts, working with the likes of Thames Water, Southern Water, Anglian Water and Wessex Water. I started out on the tools, digging holes, driving machines and over time, I moved into management.
Eventually, I landed a role with Bovis, which at the time had a reputation for world-class project management. I cut my teeth there and worked on railway jobs, specifically the Station Regeneration Programme. That pushed me more into office-based project management roles. Later, I joined an American company working on the West Coast Mainline upgrade – a huge opportunity – and though I originally interviewed for that rail job, I ended up getting pulled into their data centre programme instead. That’s when I delivered my first data centre project in the early 2000s, working across the UK and even doing a project in Paris.
As far as education goes, I’ve only got a BTEC in Civil Engineering. That’s it. Just, don’t tell Scott!
Which project stands out the most for you?
It’s usually your early projects that stay with you the most. For me, it was definitely the water framework contracts. They were formative – that’s where I learned the value of true collaboration and working as one team. I was managing relationships with clients like Southern Water and growing into a project manager role. Those projects really shaped how I approach teamwork and partnership to this day. It was all about pulling in the same direction and delivering great outcomes together.
What has been a challenging project you’ve worked on, and why?
One of the most challenging projects I led was in Bath. There was an area that had been built over old stone mines, which made the ground incredibly unstable. The government funded a £150 million project to stabilise the mines by pumping concrete into them. However, the local community opposed the proposed material, so I was brought in as the project manager to resolve it. I initiated a large-scale community engagement process and designed a value management framework that allowed residents’ views to directly shape the design of the concrete mix. That project really meant a lot to me – not just because of its size, but because we turned a community protest into a collaborative solution. I’m proud to say that my work helped unlock a critical project that might otherwise have stalled indefinitely.
What has been your favourite project to work on, and why?
Oh wow, that’s hard. I’ve been doing this a long time and honestly, I’ve enjoyed pretty much every project I’ve worked on. I love the muck and bullets, the problem-solving, the pressure, the team pulling together. That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.
I wouldn’t say I’ve got a favourite project, but one moment that really sticks in my mind is the Station Regeneration Programme, I worked on. We were a bunch of young project managers, crammed into a single room – each team had one desk and one shared phone, back in the days before mobiles were everywhere. We had no computers either, so we handwrote our notes and passed them down to the typing pool. It felt like the stock exchange in there – total chaos but in the best way. “Buy buy buy, sell sell sell!” It was loud, it was intense, and it was utterly collaborative. Everyone chipped in, argued, solved problems – that kind of energy is what I love about project work. It’s about teams, passion, and getting the job done together.
How has your past experience, shaped your role at Soben?
Well, I’m now leading project teams in Europe and we’re delivering mega projects for data centre clients . To give you an idea of the scale of these things, we’re starting to measure the value of these projects in the billions!
It’s a little different from making staircases perhaps, but I find there’s relevance in everything we’ve done, and we all have transferable skills. For example, my first supervisor in the workshop used to say to me, “measure twice, cut once.” It refers to the fact that in joinery you can always cut more wood away, but you can’t always add it back on. It basically means, check before you do. Obvious, right? But it’s stuck with me.
When we’re dealing with the kinds of sums of money and the vast quantities of materials we handle and the value of pieces of equipment, etc, that we do in data centres, that concept of checking and double checking before we make decisions is still a really valuable takeaway. We treat our clients’ money as if it’s our own – that’s a Soben principle – and so it’s important to be accurate.
Have you always wanted to be a Director? If you weren’t, what would you be doing?
I’ve always known I was a better manager than a doer. Even when I was working as a civil engineer, I enjoyed the technical side, designing things like lifting gantries, but I knew my strengths lay in leadership. I think I was the youngest team leader at Bovis after just a year there. That became a pattern: I was the youngest full associate at Parsons Brinckerhoff, the youngest regional director at Costain. Eventually, of course, I stopped being the youngest and now I’m the oldest in the room – which is kind of nice, too.
If I wasn’t in construction, I’d probably be a motorcycle instructor or maybe a beekeeper, my wife and I do keep bees! My wife runs the hives these days because she’s a much more passionate and talented beekeeper. But my main passion outside of work is singing. I lead a community choir, and at one point I was running four different choirs: a gospel group, a performing a cappella ensemble and a few community choirs. I love the joy of getting people to sing together – it’s a beautiful thing.
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
Ten years ago, I probably would have said: “Go get a degree. Work harder at school. Go to university.” But now? I’d say something different.
I’d say: back yourself.
When I was younger, especially not having a degree, I always thought my peers knew more than me – that they had access to some magical manual for how to be a professional. I imagined there was some secret “Procedure 12” that everyone else knew but I didn’t, and I spent a lot of time pretending I knew what I was doing. It wasn’t until much later, probably into my 40s, that I realised no one has that manual. Nobody knows it all. And in fact, I knew more than I gave myself credit for. I was the expert in the room and just didn’t know it. So, if I could give one piece of advice to my younger self, it would be: don’t be afraid to take up space. Trust yourself, because you know more than you think. Be bold. Don’t waste time doubting – just get stuck in and go for it.
Inspired by Chris’s journey? Why not join his team and be part of some of the most exciting Data Centre developments across Europe. Check out our open roles at www.sobencc.com/careers. To find out more about Soben’s consultancy services in EMEA you can contact Chris on the details below:
Director