SQ.FT Stories host Callum Foy welcomes guests within the construction sector to share their personal & business careers, alongside offering their opinions on the construction industry.
Powered by Jade Aden Interiors.
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Why Non-Payment & Loss of Real Relationships Are Construction’s Biggest Issues - Paul Meyer - EP 44
Paul Meyer is the original founder of Jade Aden Interiors and spent 25 years running a subcontract partitions and ceilings business before non-payment from multiple main contractors brought it down.
Starting out in 1990, Paul built his business the old fashioned way, through relationships, reputation and knowing how to sell. It worked for two and a half decades until the money stopped coming in from the people above him in the chain. In this episode, Paul talks honestly about all of it. The business he built, how it ended, and what the industry has lost in the years since.
He has a clear view on where construction has gone wrong. The art of selling has quietly disappeared. Relationships that used to be built face to face are now handled over email. And the margins and business culture of today look nothing like they did when he started out in 1990. We explore: - How non-payment from three or four main contractors brought down a business that had traded successfully for 25 years - What the subcontract world looked like in the 1990s and how the industry has changed since
- Why the art of selling in construction has become a lost skill and what it actually looked like when it was done properly - How relationship building used to win more work than any tender process and why that has almost disappeared
- What business and margin looked like in construction 20 to 30 years ago compared to today
- Why communication and human connection matter more than ever in an industry that has largely abandoned both Paul has lived through the best and worst of what this industry can do to a business.
This is an honest conversation about selling, relationships, money and what happens when the people above you in the chain stop paying.
If you have spent any time in the subcontract world, this one will resonate.
12 Oct 2026
The Hidden Financial Cost of How Construction Projects Are Set Up - Colin Wood - EP 43
Colin Wood is the founder of EthosEQ, an independent cost consultancy working with some of the UK’s most recognisable corporate occupiers on capital projects spanning hundreds of thousands of square feet.
Before going out on his own, Colin spent years at director level inside two of the biggest names in cost consultancy, Turner and Townsend and Colliers, giving him a ground level understanding of how the numbers work on projects at every scale.
In this episode, Colin talks honestly about what the construction industry consistently gets wrong with money, why most projects are set up to fail financially before anyone gets on site, and why cost certainty should never be an afterthought.
He believes everyone in the chain deserves a fair margin, that early engagement is the only thing that genuinely protects a budget, and that the human relationships behind a project will always matter more than any technology that tries to replace them.
We explore:
- Why most construction projects carry financial risk that was baked in long before tender went out- What contractors consistently get wrong within the process and how it costs everyone- What the ideal project looks like from start to finish when cost consultancy is done properly- Why construction will never be a high margin industry and what that means for the businesses operating within it- What true costs on capital projects actually look like and why so few people are honest about them- Why human connection will remain the most important thing on any project even as AI changes everything around it
Colin has sat at the top of the corporate cost consultancy world and chosen to build something more focused. This is a conversation about financial reality, early engagement and what it actually takes to deliver a project that works for everyone involved.
28 Sept 2026
Why Most Construction Businesses Don't Understand Their Own Finances - John Rowe - EP 42
John Rowe is the co-founder and commercial director of Bloom Construction, a contractor carving out a very deliberate niche in the UK market.
John came over from Australia, where he worked for tier 1 contractors and built his understanding of construction from the ground up, starting as a site manager before moving into the commercial side of the business.
In this episode, John brings a data driven perspective you don't often hear from someone running a growing contractor. He is direct about the financial realities of building a construction business, why cashflow is the number that actually matters, and why most businesses don't understand their own finances until it's already too late.
Bloom is currently turning over £13 million, targeting £20 million next year, with £50 million the longer term ambition. But John is clear that getting there the wrong way is worse than not getting there at all.
We explore:
- Why saying no to the wrong project could be the best decision you make.
- How growing too quickly creates financial pressure that can destroy a business before it ever reaches its potential
- Why Bloom deliberately targets retrofit projects that most contractors won't touch and what makes those jobs commercially attractive - How being number and data orientated changes the way you run a construction business
- Why collaboration and problem solving are where the construction industry is at its best
- The financial mistakes John has seen contractors make and how to avoid them
John is not your typical construction founder. He came from the tools, moved into commercial, and has built a business with a very clear view of the numbers behind every decision.
Who has been a guest on SQ.FT Stories
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Jordan Connochie
Zac Goodman
Beatrice Ronchetti
Leeson Medhurst
Ben Preston
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5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100
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27
Social presence
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YouTube
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Engagement
32
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