Profile: A world in turmoil will bring challenges to all businesses

As the new vice-chairman of Bradford Chamber of Commerce, Paul Mackie is helping to lead the way in the next chapter in the city’s quest for success.

Bradford-born and bred and a dedicated member of the Bradford community, he is well aware of the city’s struggle for prosperity, what has gone wrong and what needs to happen to turn the situation around.

Sitting in the Leeds office of chartered surveyors Rex Procter and Partners where he is chairman, Mackie takes a deep breath.

“I think there’s a number of challenges that Bradford’s had over the last 20-odd years,” he says. “There have been a number of false dawns, a weak council failing to deliver, some decisions were made many years ago – particularly regarding the Westfield site – that were perhaps not in the best interests of the city as it’s transpired, the will of the people in Bradford and a lot of the other challenges around the culture of Bradford and its image and unique selling point.”

He adds: “It’s all been a bit unclear as to what Bradford’s about but I think it’s certainly becoming a lot clearer now.”

The development of a Westfield shopping centre at the Broadway site was stalled in 2009 because of a lack of both funds and interest from retailers. It left a huge hole in the centre of Bradford.

However, Westfield has now signed up M&S for a smaller, revised scheme and submitted planning proposals to Bradford Council last week.

Meanwhile, the £24m City Park in Centenary Square is on track to open in the autumn.

“The confidence of the people and the belief that Westfield’s going to get delivered is more certain now and bringing on the City Park is certainly going to help.

“It’s going to give a focus to the city of Bradford that is greatly needed,” says Mackie.

He believes the city needs the confidence of its people, businesses and Government for a sustainable recovery, plus the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to fight for limited Government funding.

Bradford recently lost out to the Aire Valley in Leeds in the bid for a new enterprise zone. But unlike other business leaders in the city, Mackie believes the right decision was made.

“It was a big blow but perhaps it was never going to happen,” he says. “If Westfield had been supporting the enterprise zone bid that decision may have been different, who knows?

“I’m comforted by the fact that the right decision has been made because the decision that was made by the private sector on the LEP board made sure that the business plan was robust for the Aire Valley option.

“We are putting in a round two bid for the Regional Growth Fund so let’s hope that’s successful.”

New initiatives such as Positive Bradford and Bradford Property Forum’s Be Positive campaign are also taking place to change the mindset of the city’s population.

However, although Mackie believes Bradford’s fortunes could be turning, he also warns that economic conditions are getting much more difficult.

“We are entering into probably the toughest five years of business we have ever seen, certainly in the last 150 years since the industrial revolution,” he says.

“This new world that’s emerging, we don’t know what’s coming out yet. I think these global challenges we’ve got, in America, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East, these are seismic shifts in terms of how the local economy and the national economy is being run.

“The strong will survive and successful businesses that have got a clear vision, the right people and a good plan in place will become stronger and we intend to be part of that group that will survive. I think cities themselves have got a real challenge to be coherent and to get people on board.”

Promoting the Yorkshire brand within the business community is high on his list of priorities.

“I think the Yorkshire brand is stronger than the Leeds City Region. There are initiatives taking place to promote the brand from a business perspective.

“We need to make sure that provincial towns and cities, that have a great deal to offer, don’t get left behind.”

Not only is Mackie vice-president of Bradford Chamber of Commerce, his other interests include chairman roles at a number of organisations including the Bradford Property Forum, the Board for Centre for Skills Excellence – construction at Leeds City College, Bradford Professionals Network, Bradford Interact, and the Common Purpose West Yorkshire Advisory Board. He also sits on the steering group of the Children’s University.

Mackie joined chartered surveyors Rex Procter and Partners, which has offices in Leeds and Bradford, 21 years ago.

He says the company had weathered the economic storm “reasonably well”. Although it made seven redundancies, it has since appointed 10 new people and opened up an office in London.

The company, which has about 100 staff, has modernised, rebranded and diversified in the last 18 months. It now operates in 19 sectors compared to 11 last year and eight the year before.

Waste management, energy reduction, education work and food manufacturing are growing areas of the business.

Its biggest clients include Morrisons, First Group, Bradford University and Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery.

Recent projects include acting for Transport for London and First Group in the development of a fuelling and maintenance site for hydrogen-powered London buses.

Turnover went down last year to £7.5m compared to £9m in previous years but the company remains profitable. “We are working harder for less,” says Mackie. “Tender values are down 30 per cent and our fees are also coming down.

“Our pipeline of work is stronger than it’s ever been but crystalising that into fee-paying jobs takes longer than ever.”

Last year, the company did £720m worth of construction work. “This year it’ll be less but it’ll be delivered by more jobs,” he adds.

Mackie left school after passing few exams due to dyslexia but went on to gain qualifications in quantity surveying. His career includes a stint in Saudi Arabia.in the late Seventies and early Eighties along with roles at a number of quantity surveying firms.

Remarkably, he says he cured his dyslexia in 1988 after starting to write with his left hand rather than his right hand. “That spurred me on and made everything a lot clearer,” he says.

He joined Rex Partners as a senior surveyor in 1990 and worked his way up the firm.

“I’ve no A-levels but I’m living proof that through having a clear focus on what you want to do, everything is possible,” he says.

Mackie has been married to Paula for 25 years – they started going out at school when they were 13. They have two grown-up children – Tom and Jack – and live in Menston.

“When you come from a broken home – my dad left when I was four, Paula’s dad died when she was 15 – it brings the family together in a different way and makes the family strong,” he says.

Hear Paul Mackie in conversation, in our BusinessTalk programme. Listen live or download from this afternoon at yorkshirepost.co.uk/businesstalk

PAUL MACKIE FACTFILE

Title: Chairman of Rex Procter and Partners and vice president of Bradford Chamber of Commerce.

Date of birth: September 1, 1960.

Education: Aireborough Grammar School, Leeds College of Building, degree in quantity surveying at Leeds Metropolitan University.

First job: A gardener

Favourite song: Jerusalem.

Car driven: Audi A7 Sportback.

Favourite film: The Green Mile.

Favourite holiday destination: Barbados.

Last book read: Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant, by W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.

Most proud of: 25 years of marriage.