Industry Funding Committee

The Industry Funding Committee will advise the Board on future direction of the strategy, including reform of the Grants Scheme based on their assessment of the impact of funding decisions and to provide independent review of the funding decisions in regard to exception cases requested by the CITB Executive Management Team.

Current committee members (as at June 2024) are:

Holly Price - Committee Chair and CITB Trustee

Stephen Gray - CITB Trustee

Sophie Seddon - CITB Trustee

Rupert Perkins – Managing Director, John Perkins Construction

Rupert Perkins is the Managing Director of John Perkins Construction. His focus is on building multi-disciplinary teams and guiding them to success, through the JPC ethos of honesty, openness, integrity and flexibility.

Prior to joining John Perkins Construction, Rupert Perkins worked on a series of major projects in London for Taylor Woodrow Construction. During his more than 20 years at John Perkins Construction, he has spearheaded prestigious projects at Bristol landmarks like Underfall Yard and has overseen a school extension that was named Most Considerate Site (£1–5m category) at the Considerate Constructors Scheme Awards. In recognition of JPC’s work in 2020, the company was named Building Contractor of the Year: England (Turnover Under £15m) at the Construction Awards of Excellence.

Rupert is President of the South West Builders Federation; a Non-Executive Director of the Building Safety Group; a Co-optee on the National Federation of Builders Executive Board; an Ambassador for the Considerate Constructors Scheme; and part of the steering group for the Advanced Construction Skills Centre in South Bristol.

Kacey O’Driscoll – Strategy and Leadership Director, Danny Sullivan Group

Kacey is the Director of Strategy and Leadership at Danny Sullivan Group, the leading supplier of skilled, professional labour in the UK. DSG has been serving the civil engineering, rail, transportation and construction industries since 1986.

In her role, Kacey is responsible for helping to create, communicate, execute and sustain the Group’s long-term goals and strategic objectives. Her role also involves leading and developing DSG’s education and training strategy to ensure it continues to successfully deliver on its commitments, invest in its workforce and have the right skills for now and in the future.

Prior to joining the family business at DSG, Kacey worked for almost a decade as an international corporate lawyer advising some of the world’s largest multi-national companies on high-profile reorganisation transactions. In particular, she advised the boards of some of the world’s largest corporates on the design and implementation of corporate governance programmes, including strategies for managing risk, complying with legal requirements, communicating with shareholders and forging proactive and effective relationships with all stakeholders.

Kacey has a particular interest in construction tech and is an investor, advisor and mentor to a number of UK and Irish based start-ups and businesses.

Hannah O’Sullivan - Head of Learning and Development, VolkerWessels

Hannah is the Head of Learning and Development for VolkerWessels UK, a leading multidisciplinary contractor that delivers innovative engineering solutions across the civil engineering and construction sectors including rail, highways, airport, marine, energy, water, and environmental infrastructure. Along with her team, Hannah works to offer opportunities for everyone to develop to their own potential - for both their own benefit, and that of the company.

Hannah is a passionate, innovative and dynamic learning and talent strategist, with a track record of adding bottom line value to a business. She is a strategic thinker who uses a broad network of peers to challenge the norm.

Over her 26-year career, across a number of different industries, Hannah has honed her skills as a performance management specialist, with proven returns on investment, and she has also delivered culture change programmes which include people development strategies and implementation.

Hannah is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and is particularly involved in external peer development - especially in coaching and mentoring. Currently Chair of the CECA Training & Development committee, and a member of the Build UK CITB Reform group.

Clare Smithson – Head of Human Resources, Lovell Partnerships

Clare Smithson is the Head of Human Resources at Lovell Partnerships. Lovell is a partnerships housing expert and leading provider of innovative residential construction and regeneration developments. They build homes for sale and rent, sourcing land and investing in communities alongside, local authorities, housing associations and other partners. Clare looks after around 1200 highly skilled people, who are employed directly, at every stage of the project, from architects and designers to building trades and customer care teams. Lovell take on a wide range of trainees and apprenticeships each year and offer the opportunity to move within the organisation so people can progress within the company. All of this is supported by a high degree of investment in training.

Clare has a wealth of human resource management expertise, most recently as HR Director at the Weston Group and previously having spent 7 years as Group Head of HR at Hill Group, where her work helped the business win a Housebuilder Award for their partnership with Women into Construction. Clare has also worked in senior human resource roles at DS Smith plc, NEST Corporation and BT plc.

Clare has a keen interest in the attraction and retention of talent in the housebuilding industry and in particular investing in the skills and careers of the next generation.

2024 Meetings

• 6 February
• 14 May
• 1 August
• 31 October