Andy Dix was recently elected president of the British Precast Concrete Federation, the trade body for concrete products in the UK. He tells Guy Woodford about what he aims to achieve in his new role
Andy Dix is young at heart.
The 51-year-old married father-of-two is a passionate believer in giving young people opportunities to shine in the property construction materials industry and regularly mentors students at the
The fledgling and proud president of the
“I’ve always done a lot with young people. I’m always on the end of the telephone. We take students in and show them what we’re doing. As a nation and as an industry, we do not spend enough time on the next generation.”
Starting his career in mechanical engineering Dix joined
The importance of nurturing young talent in the construction materials industry, was shown to him first-hand in his own younger days.
“I always had a mentor. I used to ring him and ask him about doing this and that and he would say: ‘No, I did that in, say, 1971’ and they would advise me to do something else.
“Young people, contrary to popular belief, do listen and want to get on. It’s one of my hot topics of conversation: training young people properly gives you better people.”
The last ten years have seen Dix establish himself as a leading figure in the British construction materials sector. In 2002 he set up a paving and construction materials firm, subsequently selling to Aggregate Industries (AI), part of The
While Dix sees his election as BPCF president as the “culmination of a lifetime’s work”, he is keen to get on with tackling issues that matter to the concrete product and wider house building industry.
“I did not want to do this as a non-executive role and preside over a talking shop. In order for things to stay the same, things must change. A key goal of mine is to pull [industry] brains and minds together.”
Andy wants the precast concrete industry and wider construction trade to increase its emphasis on and understanding of health and safety. “I want zero harm to everyone who works in the industry. From a technical point of view, I want to harmonise standards.
“Our American and European cousins, PCI (Precast Industry America) and BIBM (
“I think we need to share our knowledge to ensure better performing buildings, with lower running costs. The whole industry is focused on tackling the [property] fire issue, finding materials with lower combustion rates.
There’s a big task for the BPCF in putting across to the Government the need to build thermal and less fire risk properties. A reduction in the amount of energy used in houses leads to lower energy bills for all of us.
“The BPCF is working closely with Salford University about best practice within the [house construction and materials] industry. They have been doing this for 30 years. I want to bring that to a conclusion in that we are able to offer better built houses that are longer lasting and more energy efficient.”
Dix believes the Government is listening to the calls for more energy efficient, better fire safe and longer lasting homes.
“Are they listening? - Very much so. I spend a significant amount of time with Government officials and senior figures in the energy sector to make sure the message is getting through.”
Dix pulls no punches about the state of the UK home construction and associated materials sector.
“Of course the industry is down and we need a strong voice. I think the days of commoditised products are gone and our members see that the way to improve business is to offer better solutions, including additional products.
“The Government and
Factory-based production of key home building elements such as roofs and walls will, says Dix, achieve great health and safety, environmental and efficiency gains. Nullifying the impact of weather on a build by increasing off site work could, according to Dix, significantly speed up construction time, allowing tradesmen like plumbers and electricians quicker access to [under construction] properties.
“The Government needs to invest in housing as there’s a national housing shortage which is reaching crisis point. The US has embraced change, but continental Europe and the UK have been very conservative in the way we build things. Buildings are built for price rather than longevity. It should be about corporate social responsibility – about leaving a legacy of environmentally friendly homes with lower running costs.”
Dix has other senior roles in the precast products industry. He is chairman of the Precast Flooring Federation, part of British Precast, and has also sat on the Board of the International Prestressed Hollowcore Association. He sees no problem with taking on the BPCF presidency alongside his other paid and voluntary work commitments.
“It’s extra work, but I’m an entrepreneurial guy with a good team around me. You have to make it happen. There’s doers and there’s talkers.
“There was a wonderful quote from one of the guys who set up the team to come up with a way to return Apollo 13 safely back to earth – ‘There are people who make things happen, people that watch things happen, and those that wonder what happened.”
On the changes in the home construction and associated building materials industry since he cut his teeth in the trade at Marshalls PLC, Dix believes they mirror the wider world.
“I think the honour of work and professionalism has decreased and we should try and get that back. It’s about the way business is conducted in terms of honour. I think that’s a global issue, a generation thing and a social problem. It used to be about doing a job for an agreed figure on paper and getting that figure. It’s now doing it to the figure on paper but then it might not be to that agreed paper amount.”
Returning to the young at heart nature of Dix, a further illustration of it can be found in what he enjoys doing in his precious time away from paid and voluntary work.
“I race British Superbikes and fly aerobatic routines in an ex-RAF Bulldog aircraft. My wife must have a constitution of an ox as she comes and watches me.
“On the Superbike racing, I race for ex-British 400 metre champion Derek Redmond’s team in the Hot Trax Endurance Senior Series. I have a 1000cc BMW bike and have been racing for 25 years.”
Among those competing against Dix in the Hot Trax Endurance Senior Series is Keith Flint, frontman of highly successful British music act The Prodigy.
“He’s nothing like he is on stage,” said Dix. “He’s one of the nicest, kindest and most gentle men you could meet. I went to the Download Festival at Donington Park [county of Leicestershire, England] to see him perform even though I didn’t know anything about his music.”
Andy Dix becomes president of British Precast Federation
At this year’s AGM of British Precast Federation (BPCF), Andy Dix thanked previous BPCF president Steve Parker, managing director of Buchan Concrete Solutions, for his outstanding contribution to the business over three challenging years.
“He dedicated his period in office to continuing to make the industry as safe as possible with a view to universal zero harm and to increasing membership of qualifying companies who could meet British Precast Raising the Bar standards,” said Dix. “He urged member companies to increase their individual and collective marketing activity through British Precast and its product groups to beat the competition.”
Welcoming Dix to his position, BPCF chief executive Martin Clarke said: “Andy and I have a shared vision of where the concrete products industry should be going. We have a strong Council to work with and a great young staff team in Leicester to make it happen.”
