We catch up with our new Managing Director of FF&E, Graham Cleland. Read our spotlight Q&A to see how Graham moved from a shipbuilding industry to the property sector, and find out his plans for the business in growing FF&E's market leadership across the BTR and PBSA.  

Can you give us a brief overview of your career? 

I’m an engineer by background and training, and I also have a doctorate in AI. I began my career in the shipbuilding industry before moving into more general manufacturing and eventually specialist construction, working my way up from technical management to managing director roles. Most recently, before joining David Philips, I’ve been working for large housebuilding organisations that develop single-family homes and apartment-type buildings.  

Why did you want to join the David Phillips team?  

I was attracted to David Phillips because I saw the opportunity to develop their FF&E business into a leadership position in its field across the UK and potentially other geographies. The practicalities of the business are similar to other sectors I’ve worked in, so my skills and expertise are all very relevant. I’ll also be able to apply insights from my experience within PLC businesses to bring improved governance and rigour to the organisation. 

Can you briefly explain your role at David Phillips and what you aim to achieve during your tenure? 

As Managing Director of FF&E, I look after a small team based mostly in Manchester, but with a countrywide presence. My goal is for us to become operationally excellent and to develop opportunities across the build-to-rent, student accommodation and later living sectors. To achieve this, my focus will be on three main areas: the first is to improve the performance of our team, so we get more opportunities to take volume from our competitors; and the second is to clearly identify and communicate our points of difference from our competitors, so customers have good reasons to choose us. Finally, I want to help cement the understanding of how we can help customers reduce their whole-life carbon impact. 

Is sustainability at the forefront or can more be done to achieve Net Zero? 

In the UK, the built environment is a big challenge for Net Zero because of the way we build – the industry has yet to properly grasp the nettle. Two things are driving change, though. Investors don’t want to be left with legacy environmental risk. Mindful of the embodied carbon consequence of construction, they will be pressing the businesses they finance for more action and clarity on their sustainability plans. Secondly, I think regulation is likely to push the Net Zero agenda harder in coming years with taxation that reflects both embodied and operational carbon. Savvy businesses in our space will be preparing for this. 

Do you have any predictions about the industry’s development in the next 10 years? 

I’m still too new to this sector to give a comprehensive answer. But I think it’s inevitable that we will see businesses working to leverage their data resources using emerging technologies like AI. David Phillips produces huge amounts of data and extracting value from it could be a powerful differentiator for us. What’s important for any business though is to start by identifying what it wants from technology. I also think that the narrative for any business surviving in our sector to 2035 will revolve around delivering Net Zero and the massive carbon reduction required from the built environment.