Craig Garbutt — Managing Director & Construction Operations Executive
BSc (hons) PgDip
- — Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building (FCIOB)
- — Fellow of the Association for Project Management (FAPM)
- — Fellow of the International Institute of Risk & Safety Management (FIIRSM)
- — Chartered Manager Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (CMgr FCMI)
Managing Director | Construction & Infrastructure Executive | Commercial & Operational Leadership
Managing Director (UK), Daiwa House Industry. With over 25 years’ experience across commercial performance, operational leadership, governance and major-project delivery, Craig combines full UK business P&L leadership with £300M+ portfolio and commercial accountability and international major-programme experience up to €1.1B+.
Healthcare, Life Science, Data Centres & Major Infrastructure — Delivering in Environments Where Failure Is Not an Option
A track record of over 25 years’ construction and infrastructure experience across the UK's most technically demanding sectors as Construction Director, Project Director and Managing Director within Tier 1 main contractors, and as Client's Representative on a €1.1B+ international EPC programme.
Ensuring Operational Continuity Through Disciplined Construction Leadership
Career Narrative
Craig Garbutt began his career as an apprentice bricklayer. Upon completion of his CITB apprenticeship he’s since progressed through every tier of operational and senior leadership. Setting Out Foreman, Site Manager, Senior Site Manager, Project Manager, Senior Project Manager, Project Director and, ultimately, Managing Director.
This ground-up progression is the foundation of a career spent delivering in the built environment. Intrinsic knowledge of how projects are designed, procured and delivered is what gives Craig advantage. He’s built it, then managed the process from every aspect that is his career progression.
With over 25 years at the forefront of specialist construction, Craig has led multidisciplinary project teams of more than 250 personnel across live acute hospitals, CL3 laboratories, life science estates, pharmaceutical facilities, scientific research facilities, an immersion-cooled supercomputer data centre suite, and advanced manufacturing plants. Specialist programmes also include AELTC Wimbledon developments and five-star sports and hospitality schemes.
Environments where programme certainty, regulatory compliance and stakeholder confidence are non-negotiable.
Craig's delivery experience is predominantly gained from the Tier 1 main contractor side of the industry, delivering NHS hospital and healthcare programmes under NEC3, NEC4, JCT and FIDIC contract forms, with formal CDM Principal Contractor duty holder responsibility.
Craig served as the client-side Offshore Construction Client's Representative on the €1.1B+ Trianel Windpark Borkum programme, coordinating delivery across major EPC contractor interfaces in the North Sea.
Craig has an extensive track record in project recovery, business turnaround and transformation, taking on Interim Director and Turnaround Director appointments to lead organisational restructuring, operational improvement and market re-entry strategies while protecting commercial performance and full P&L accountability.
His margin optimisation work has delivered EBITDA increases of 7% and secured project margins of up to 17.6%.
A recognised construction industry advisor, Craig provided televised evidence to the House of Lords Built Environment Committee inquiry into Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
His executive career spans healthcare, scientific research, advanced manufacturing, modular construction, energy and major infrastructure across the UK and Europe.
Craig currently serves as Managing Director (UK) at Daiwa House Industry. A major international construction group listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and one of Japan's largest construction organisations.
To discuss confidential retained executive search across the UK and Europe, email: info@craiggarbutt.co.uk.
Giving evidence to the House of Lords Built Environment Committee — MMC Inquiry
On site — Trianel Windpark Borkum offshore wind installation, North Sea (AREVA / Trianel)
Leadership Philosophy
"As a manager, you are there to remove the obstacles from the path of the tradesmen coming to do the work & make sure they are all safe & healthy whilst doing it."
Collaborative leadership doesn't mean passive leadership. In distressed programmes, the same clarity of communication that builds trust in a good project becomes the tool for delivering unwelcome truths quickly, resetting unrealistic expectations, and making swift calls under commercial pressure.
That clarity comes from the ground up. I entered the construction industry via the old Youth Training Scheme (YTS), before moving to a CITB apprenticeship where I would go on to complete a CITB apprenticeship in brickwork, achieving City & Guilds level 3 "advanced craft" in brickwork.
My placement company & mentor was a small local contractor who predominantly undertook small house builds, larger extensions, commercial property refurbishments "cut & carve". The work was fast & with 7 men in total, everyone did a bit of everything. As an apprentice, I didn't understand the value of the environment I was in.
I learned everything on the jobs — how to mix mortar, how to lay bricks, how to cut & place joists, how to lay block drives, how to mix plaster, how to apply it to the walls (only the browning scratch coat — I wasn't good enough to put finish on). How to wire a house back to the board, how to pipe a house for a central heating system, how to hang a door, fit skirtings & architraves, how to fit kitchens. Everything. I learned it all, because I had to.
Some jobs were nice, easy; some were really hard (underpinning) — however, there was always a positive mental attitude to the work, the morale was always high & everyone helped each other. Always a positive atmosphere.
The experience has stayed with me. I gained a grounded base-level knowledge of understanding how buildings go together & how to coordinate work elements correctly — that's served me well in my management career. Understanding the sequencing & programming of work activities is vital to successful project delivery.
More importantly, I learned the right attitude & how to work with people. How to be respectful, how to always ask questions when I didn't understand something — understanding that managing men in the construction industry is very rarely "telling them what to do."
It's often thanking them for the work they have done, leaning on them for advice when something hasn't gone quite right & understanding what I believe is the basic principle of management in the construction sector.
This philosophy has never changed, whether I've been leading a small team on a small project or larger infrastructure programmes with teams of hundreds & values worth hundreds of millions. I'm never "the smartest guy in the room" — so respectful, polite collaboration always wins the day & promotes a positive attitude towards the overall project & its subsequent work elements.
In today's industry, margins are thin, timescales are tight & the ever-increasing compliance requirements added to every element of the build add extra pressure to everyone on site. In this environment, shouting, blaming people or creating conflict simply gives everyone more reasons why something can't be done.
Whilst calm, respectful collaborative management always finds the way it can be.
100m above the North Sea — Trianel Windpark Borkum, Germany
Craig served as the client-side Offshore Construction Client's Representative on the €1.1B+ Trianel Windpark Borkum programme, coordinating delivery across major EPC contractor interfaces in the North Sea.
Approach to Complex Delivery
A defined methodology for executing high-risk built-environment programmes.
Operational Continuity
In live healthcare or in mission-critical environments, construction and refurbishment activities cannot interrupt operations. Craig implements rigorous phasing, temporary infrastructure, and infection control strategies to ensure zero impact to the estate or asset under development.
Programme Recovery
Taking over distressed major projects requires immediate commercial triage, realistic replanning, and resetting client expectations. Craig specialises in bringing failing multi-million-pound programmes back under control.
Stakeholder Alignment
Complex facilities involve clinicians, scientists, government officials, and engineers. Bridging the gap between highly technical user requirements and translating the project brief into a deliverable commercial construction reality is a core strength.
Design for Manufacture (DfMA)
Leveraging Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) to de-risk delivery, improve quality, and accelerate programmes for healthcare and science facilities. This requires an intrinsic knowledge of MMC, its practical applications and limitations, and where it's best placed to add value in project delivery.