I'm The Gaffer
I'm The Gaffer, hosted by industry expert Gavin Coyle, is the essential podcast for construction people, offering insider insights, expert interviews, and actionable strategies to blueprint unprecedented success in the dynamic world of construction. Whether you are still ‘on the tools’, just getting started, a seasoned site manager focused on large-scale project management, or a fast-growth building industry entrepreneur/developer this podcast is for you. Gavin's guests, ranging from influential thought leaders to boots-on-the-ground practitioners, share their stories, successes and failures, and offer invaluable lessons and tips, allowing you to have a 360-degree view of the construction landscape. This podcast is a...
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Is Your Construction Business Sellable, or Just a Job? | Laurie Barkman, CEPA®
<p>Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer </p><p>If you own a construction, engineering or architecture business and you've ever thought "I'll sort the exit out when I'm 65", this episode is for you.</p><p>In this episode, Laurie Barkman joins Gavin Coyle. Laurie is the founder of The Business Transition Sherpa®, a former $100 million CEO, M&A advisor and strategic growth expert who helps AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) firm owners build businesses that can grow without relying entirely on them. She is the author of The Business Transition Handbook and host of the Succession S...
Is Experience Making Construction Workers Complacent? | John Egan
<p>Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer</p><p>When you've been doing the same job for years, does experience make you safer, or can it make you complacent?</p><p>In this episode, Gavin Coyle welcomes John Egan, Executive for Safety, Health and Skills at the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), as the podcast returns to the studio.</p><p>John discusses some of the biggest challenges facing construction safety in Ireland, from workforce competence and the loss of experienced workers to the dangers of complacency and the importance of speaking up on site.</p><p>With...
Work Out On Your Wage - Kevin Bennison (InspHigher)
<p>Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer</p><p>If you have ever watched a lift sit waiting till half ten while the paperwork gets finished, or wondered why so many good crane people freeze at the thought of the appointed person course, this episode is for you.</p><p>In this episode, Kevin Bennison joins Gavin Coyle. Kevin is the founder of InspHigher, a lifting operations trainer, former soldier and lifelong learner with over 25 years across the lifting industry. He joined the Army in 1995 as a plant operator in the Royal Engineers and earned his wings...
Falls From Height: The No. 1 Killer on Site, And What Actually Works - Peter Bennett OBE (No Falls Foundation)
<p>Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer </p><p>If you have ever sent a man 200 miles in a van with two ladders on the roof rack and wondered why he didn't "work safely," this episode is about why falls from height are still the number one killer on site, and what 45 years at the sharp end of the access industry says actually fixes it.</p><p>Peter Bennett OBE joins Gavin Coyle. Peter is managing director of PASMA, executive director of the Ladder Association, chair of the No Falls Foundation and a past president of IPAF, 45...
Connstruction Procurement is Broken | Alastair Blenkin (ProcurePro)
<p>If you've ever finished a package and quietly wondered whether you made or lost money on it, and had no way to find out, this episode is about the part of construction where the margin's really won and lost, and why almost nobody's systemised it.</p><p>Alastair Blenkin joins Gavin Coyle. He's co-founder and CEO of ProcurePro, a construction procurement platform used by 300-odd contractors globally with around 150bn of construction value running through it. He was a lawyer "for about five minutes," quit at 25, launched a month before COVID, rebuilt from scratch when the market vanished, and...
PPE Wasn't Designed For Women? | Jane Middleton (AtkinsRéalis)
<p>If you have ever hopped into a site truck because your trousers were too tight to climb, tucked your glasses under your hard hat to keep them on, or been asked "is that your dad's coat?" this episode is about why that was never good enough, and the new British Standard that says so.</p><p>Jane Middleton joins Gavin Coyle. She's a senior asset management consultant at AtkinsRéalis and a chartered geologist, shortlisted for an Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering award in 2023. She started out supervising drilling rigs on the Heathrow expansion project, in PPE that d...
Mast Climbers Beat Scaffolding | Rob Munns (BFT Mastclimbing)
<p>Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer 👷</p><p>If scaffolding is your default solution for working at height, this episode may change your perspective.</p><p>Gavin Coyle sits down with Rob Munns, Head of Sales at BFT Mastclimbing, to explore how mast climbing work platforms can improve safety, productivity, and project costs. With a background outside construction, Rob brings a fresh perspective and challenges long-held assumptions about access solutions on site.</p><p>You'll learn:</p>What mast climbers are and how they workKey safety features and common site mistakes to avoidThe importance of proper tra...
Lean Doesn't Mean Less People — It Means Better | Kelley Huss (JE Dunn Construction)
<p>Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer 👷♂️</p><p>If you've ever thought of lean as corporate jargon — or a polite word for layoffs — this conversation will change how you look at your crews, meetings, and margins.</p><p>In this episode, Kelley Huss, Manager of Lean at JE Dunn Construction, joins Gavin Coyle to unpack what lean really means on a job site. Kelley shares practical lessons from her career in construction and explains how lean can improve efficiency, strengthen relationships, and solve real problems in the field.</p><p>You'll learn:</p>What lean actually means — and w...
Quality Isn't Paperwork — It's Profit | Lorna Hagan on ISO 9001 Done Right
<p>Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer </p><p>If you've ever wondered whether ISO 9001 is worth the bureaucracy — or written off quality as box-ticking that lives in a filing cabinet — this conversation will change how you look at your bottom line.</p><p>In this episode, Lorna Hagan joins Gavin Coyle to unpack why quality is profit, not paperwork. Lorna is a civil engineer and chartered quality professional with 20+ years on main contractor sites — from Crossrail and nuclear decommissioning to three-bed semis — and the founder of Construct Tuition, where she trains and consults construction businesses to get it r...
The Billion Dollar Blindspot Every Construction Leader Has | Hacia Atherton
<p>Welcome to a new episode of I'm The Gaffer 👷♂️</p><p>If you're a construction business owner wondering whether the next stage of growth is worth what it might cost your culture, this conversation will stop you in your tracks.</p><p>In this episode, Hacia Atherton joins Gavin Coyle to discuss what success actually feels like (not just what it looks like on paper), why pushing past $5M in turnover changes your business in ways you can't reverse, and how leaders in male-dominated industries can build cultures where people feel like humans, not tools. Hacia is the founder of Empowe...
