GEDON™ | Precision Search for Complex Construction
General Manager – Main Contractor
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We are representing an established privately owned construction group
with a long-standing presence across the London market, seeking to appoint a General Manager to take full responsibility for one of its principal contracting businesses.
The wider Group
The wider Group generates approximately £50M–£60M in annual turnover across its construction activities and has built its reputation through long-term relationships, repeat business and a measured approach to growth.
Within the Group
Within the Group, this Tier 3 Main Contracting business currently turns over approximately £25M per annum, delivering predominantly through established residential and public-sector frameworks across London. With a strong pipeline and existing framework positions, there is an immediate opportunity to develop the business towards £40M turnover.
Importantly, this is not a turnaround situation or a business being built from scratch. The successful General Manager will inherit an established operation, existing client relationships, an experienced team and a strong position within the London construction market. The opportunity is to take those foundations and lead the company through its next phase of controlled and profitable growth.
The Company
The business forms part of a privately owned construction group turning over circa £50M–£60M annually, with an established track record across the London market. It has developed a particularly strong position within public-sector construction, working with established clients and procurement bodies across residential, social housing, education and wider public-building programmes.
A significant proportion of work is secured through frameworks and repeat client relationships, making the company's reputation, delivery performance and ability to maintain long-term partnerships particularly important.
The London public-sector framework market itself provides significant long-term opportunity, with major frameworks covering new-build housing, refurbishment, retrofit, planned maintenance and other public buildings across London and the Home Counties.
The culture is one of long-term commitment rather than short-term movement. There are strong tenures throughout the organisation, with individuals who have grown with the company and remained through different stages of the construction cycle. The Shareholders place significant value on loyalty, accountability and people who genuinely take ownership of the business they are responsible for.
That philosophy is reflected in the type of General Manager they now want to appoint. They are looking for someone who wants to build a long-term chapter of their career with the company, rather than use the position as another short-term move.
The Opportunity
The General Manager will effectively run the contracting business, reporting directly to the Shareholder and taking responsibility for its operational, commercial and financial performance. This is considerably broader than a traditional Operations Director or Contracts Director position.
You will have oversight of the entire construction lifecycle, including:
- P&L and overall business performance
- Preconstruction
- Tendering and bid strategy
- Estimating strategy
- Framework and pipeline management
- Commercial management
- Procurement
- Project and operational delivery
- Client relationships
- People and leadership
- Risk management
- Business planning and forecasting
- Sustainable growth
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The immediate objective is to take an established circa £25M contracting business and create the structure, strategy and leadership required to grow towards approximately £40M, without compromising margin, cash flow, project performance or client relationships.
Key Responsibilities
The General Manager will have significant autonomy and accountability, including:
- Taking full P&L responsibility for the contracting business, including turnover, gross margin, overhead recovery, cash and bottom-line profitability.
- Reporting directly to the Shareholder on business performance, forecasts, pipeline, risk and strategic priorities.
- Developing and executing a clear business plan to move turnover from approximately £25M towards £40M in a controlled and sustainable manner.
- Leading preconstruction, estimating and tendering strategy, ensuring the business is targeting the right projects, clients and frameworks.
- Reviewing tender opportunities and making informed bid / no-bid decisions based on margin, risk, resource requirements and strategic value.
- Maintaining oversight of estimating to ensure tenders are commercially robust and operationally deliverable.
- Developing the company's framework strategy and maximising opportunities through existing and future framework appointments.
- Maintaining and strengthening relationships with key London public-sector, housing and education clients.
- Providing executive leadership to the commercial function across procurement, cost control, forecasting, contractual risk, variations and final accounts.
- Ensuring commercial reporting provides an accurate picture of project and business performance.
- Maintaining senior-level oversight of project execution, ensuring schemes are delivered safely, profitably and in accordance with programme and quality expectations.
- Conducting regular project reviews and challenging operational and commercial teams where performance is falling below expectations.
- Ensuring lessons identified during delivery are fed back into future estimating and preconstruction decisions.
- Developing the senior management team and ensuring appropriate accountability exists across preconstruction, commercial and operations.
- Assessing the organisational structure required to support growth towards £40M.
- Protecting the company's existing culture while introducing the systems, disciplines and leadership required for its next phase.
The Individual
We are seeking an experienced construction leader who understands how to run a contracting business rather than simply manage projects.
You will ideally bring:
- Approximately 15–20 years' experience within the UK construction industry.
- A degree qualification in Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, Commercial Management, Civil Engineering or another relevant construction discipline.
- A career developed predominantly within Main Contracting.
- Experience operating within the Tier 2 / Tier 3 contractor environment will be particularly relevant.
- Significant experience working on major public-sector frameworks.
- Strong exposure to residential, social/public housing and/or education frameworks.
- A detailed understanding of how framework-led businesses secure, convert and successfully deliver repeat programmes of work.
- Strong knowledge across preconstruction, estimating, tendering, commercial management and operational delivery.
- Previous responsibility for a contracting business, region or division with meaningful P&L accountability.
- Experience reporting directly to an Owner, Shareholder, Managing Director or Board.
- Evidence of managing businesses through different market conditions rather than only periods of rapid growth.
- Strong commercial judgement and an understanding of the relationship between turnover, margin, cash, risk and operational capacity.
- The leadership capability to manage experienced construction professionals while remaining close enough to projects to understand where intervention is required.
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Career Stability Is Essential
The Shareholder is placing considerable importance on career tenure and long-term commitment when making this appointment.
Ideally, candidates will demonstrate 5+ year tenures with previous employers, particularly during the senior stages of their career.
We are not seeking career freelancers, contractors or individuals whose CV demonstrates numerous short-term appointments.
This is a strategic appointment into a privately owned business where trust between the General Manager and Shareholder will be fundamental.
The successful individual should therefore be able to demonstrate that they have previously:
- Committed to organisations for meaningful periods.
- Built and developed teams over several years.
- Maintained long-term client relationships.
- Taken accountability when projects or markets became challenging.
- Helped businesses navigate both good and difficult trading periods.
- Left previous organisations demonstrably stronger as a result of their tenure.
The business wants someone who understands that senior leadership is about more than delivering a strong year. It is about staying accountable when conditions become difficult and making decisions in the long-term interests of the company.
Why Consider the Opportunity?
For the right individual, this offers something increasingly difficult to find within the London contracting market: genuine responsibility for running a business within the security and financial strength of a larger privately owned Group.
You will inherit:
- An established circa £25M contracting business.
- The backing of a £50M–£60M privately owned Group.
- Established framework positions and a strong pipeline.
- Long-standing relationships with clients across London.
- A workforce and management team characterised by strong company tenures.
- Direct access to and trust from the Shareholder.
- A realistic opportunity to build the business towards £40M turnover.
The mandate is not simply to chase revenue.
It is to build a stronger, more profitable and sustainable contracting business, protecting what has made the company successful while providing the leadership required for its next stage of development.
For an experienced construction leader who wants the autonomy of running a business, direct exposure to ownership and the opportunity to make a genuine long-term impact, this represents a significant appointment.
All enquiries and applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.
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