The Specialist Engineering Contractors' group has put forward the names of the individuals it believes has the right credentials to take on the top job of chief construction advisor to the government.
Sir John Egan, Lord Browne, Andrew Wolstenholme and Sir Ian Andrews are the big names being backed by the SEC group.

The successful candidate will chair the board responsible for securing value for money from the government's procurement of construction, promoting innovation and sustainability in the industry, and be responsible for ensuring government takes account of the impact of regulation on the construction industry.

'We've put forward those who we consider to be the best candidates with substantial business experience' said Professor Rudi Klein chief executive to the SEC group.

Sir John Egan, the current chairman of Severn Trent Water, the water supplier for the Midlands, is praised by SEC for his report called 'Rethinking Construction, published in 1998.

Produced by Sir John Egan's construction task force, the report's key message is that through the application of best practices, the industry and its clients can collectively act to improve their performance. The report called for construction projects to be delivered with integrated teams as opposed to a hierarchical, sequential structure with the client at the top and the subcontractor at the bottom. It highlighted the problem of a fragmented process of appointing teams.

At the time of publishing the report, Sir John was chairman of Jaguar. Sir John ran airports operator BAA for most of the 1990s.

'We have a pyramid structure with the client at the top and the sub-contractor at the bottom. We must flatten the pyramid. So that it works more like a circle', said Professor Klein.

'We're looking for someone with substantial heavyweight experience in managing and integrating supply chains', he added.

Another name is Sir Ian Andrews, a civil servant working as 2nd Permanent Under Secretary at the Ministry of Defense. Previously, as chief executive of Defense Estates, Andrews introduced prime contracting which for the first time saw a public sector client try to integrate supply chains. He worked towards getting Defence Estates' repair and maintenance in the control of a handful of prime contractors.

'Andrews promoted the Egan agenda in procurement to get public sector projects delivered with integrated teams', Klein said.

BAA capital projects director, Andrew Wolstenholme, was described by Klein as having done 'good work' in best practice for procurement.

Lord Browne's name, ex-chief executive of BP was also put forward. Lord Browne of Madingley resigned from the BP post to save BP embarrassment, after a newspaper won a court battle to print details of his private life.

Klein said of Browne 'He knows how to get the best out of supply chains through his experience in the oil and gas industries and has the authority and status of having held a top position to get things done'.

Professor Klein's own name has been suggested by some. Klein said he was not in the running but did say :'If government asked me to do it I would'.

He added: 'It's a job I'd dearly love to have, but we're looking for someone with substantial experience. We need a high flyer in their sector in business. I don't have that level of experience. Some people will say I'm not going to be as impartial as I should be, because I'm focused on the engineering sector of the industry. The SEC Group has put forward names and it is now left to the government to decide'.

The government plans to appoint a chief construction advisor by November.

To read Paul Braithwaite's construction advisor blog click here