Colin Tomlinson Headlines Leadership Track at South East Construction Expo 2025

Colin Tomlinson, founder of 150CLD and leadership specialist for the built environment, delivered a headline talk yesterday at the South East Construction Expo 2025, held at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton.

In his packed 30-minute session, titled “Future ROI: What Comes First—Strategy or Culture?”, Colin explored why many leadership programmes in the construction sector fail to create real-world impact—and how leaders can embed behavioural change that genuinely improves project outcomes.

“Everyone’s talking about the future of work—AI, BIM, lean. But none of it works without culture and leadership,” Colin told the audience. “And those aren’t abstract ideas. They happen in moments—on site, under pressure, when decisions count.”

Drawing on his 24-year military background in the Royal Engineers and over a decade of experience managing complex infrastructure projects, Colin introduced the Site Clarity Method™—a practical, five-question decision-making framework designed to help leaders make better decisions and align their teams around shared success factors.

His session included:

• Why traditional training often misses the mark

• The six success factors that define future-ready delivery (safety, quality, environment, reputation, time and money)

• A live project self-assessment using the 5Qs framework

• A call to rethink culture not as “soft stuff,” but as the multiplier for every pound spent on strategy

The event featured other leading voices in the industry including:

• Mark Farmer, CEO of Cast Consultancy and author of the Farmer Review, discussing skills shortages and Modern Methods of Construction.

• Allan Wilen, Economics Director at Glenigan, who delivered a detailed UK construction forecast.

• Paul Barber OBE, Chief Executive of Brighton & Hove Albion FC, who gave a lunchtime keynote on leadership from the world of football and business.

• Julian Seymour (Cratus Communications) and Anna Gillings (Gillings Planning), who led critical conversations around planning regulations.

• Chelsi Payne (Walker Construction) and legal experts from Knights plc, who unpacked public procurement changes and legal risk management.

• Tom Wilson (BREEAM), Paul Hetherington (BRE Group) and Dr Poorang Piroozfar (University of Brighton), who led discussions on sustainable construction and digitisation.

Colin’s keynote stood out for its mix of storytelling, practical frameworks and direct challenges to industry norms. His message was clear: if companies want to lead in the future, they must invest in the leadership behaviours that shape outcomes on the ground—not just glossy plans or tools. Catch the replay here: