Pete Walker’s Post

The permanent contingent recruitment agency model is driven by speed. For my entire recruitment career (approaching almost two decades), the currency for the 'ownership' (and I detest that word in this context) of a candidate in the contingent model is ... 'The fastest CV wins' Quality and alignment assured right!? Now that's not a personnel problem, it's a system problem. What kind of behaviour do you think this drives?

It think it would be far to say that in the construction industry, hyper-specialisation is the norm. Teams of technical experts, each operating at the peak of their craft. But there’s a paradox: When leadership relies too heavily on hyper-specialisation, it risks narrowing perspective. Technical depth is vital, but resilience, adaptability, and human behaviour determine whether those skills truly deliver in an ambiguous environment. I believe we can do more to align behavioural insight with capability, so leaders can balance expertise with the human qualities that drive collaboration, reduce conflict, and create sustainable teams. At AstralaNexus we’re committed to providing the industry with insight beyond skills.

4 weeks and counting. The construction’s first open access hiring ecosystem is launching at the end of September - a platform that matches professionals beyond technical skills. Just some of AstralaNexus features include: 🔒 Discreet Profile - stay off the radar until you want to be seen. 📅 Match with roles when it suits you - no agency pressure, cold calls, or LinkedIn Inmails. 🧠 Built on behavioural insight - our OCEAN based profiling shows you how you think, lead, and work in a real-world construction environment. 🎯 One place for ALL professional construction jobs. It’s completely FREE to register and you will receive your own behavioural preferences overview when activating your profile. If any of my network would like an invite link sending over to them upon launch - just comment ‘Link’ in the comments below 👇

Enjoyed a walk around the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday before it opened it’s turnstiles to Everton’s first Premier League fixture on Sunday. What are sight to behold on Bramley-Moore Dock and congratulations to Laing O'Rourke and their supply chain for exceeded their ambitious target of re-using 95% of all materials on site during the build process 👏 Elis and I actually witnessed the final ‘D’ from the word ‘Dickinson’ being fixed into position via mobile platform on South Stand.

‘Win the race’ … to the bottom! I’ve lived much of what Dan has experienced over the past 4 years, and long before I knew him infact. Over the weekend I was looking over some early ideas / value proposition notes from when I launched Brownlee Dean back in 2018, and accountability was a key part message. I was niaive! Good intentions were there, but we/I was stuck in the same transactional model, I was just doing the same as everyone else. Because the rules of engagement were the same. Fastest CV wins = Quality Assured! But true accountability cannot exist when a subcontractor is supplied to an end-client by an employment agency, as an agency cannot be liable for performance (2003 conduct regs). Magnus CQP is not a utopia, but through collaboration, it offers an alternative where quality can be monitored, assessed and potential issues captured before they progress to disputes. #thespacebetweenpodcast

It was my 6 year old’s first ‘real’ football match for NORTH SHIELDS JUNIORS AFC at the weekend ⚽️ Magnus CQP are proudly sponsoring the under 7’s reds for this season and next. It was either that, or me attempting to coach them 😬 I never thought I would get into being a football parent, but its been so rewarding watching their confidence grow as they start to learn how to work together as a team. He’s still petrified of tackling though. Any tips?

Is commoditisation creeping into larger consultancies? I was joined by Dan Hicks are Magnus CQP who talked about value for money, the critical importance of clear scope definition, and how his businesses risk sharing model drives a deeper investment into customers’ project success. You can access the full conversation via the link in the comments below 👇

We’re on the final stretch now - AstralaNexus launches in September. It’s not a job board. Not another agency. It’s a open system. A platform built for trust, not transactions. It’s our mission to give candidates and hirers autonomy and insight. ✔️Every user owns their own experience. ✔️Candidates choose if and how they match. ✔️Employers see real team-aligment insight before interviewing. ✔️No agency gatekeepers. Just shared clarity, and better decisions. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to learn more about what we’re creating, and why it matters. #astralanexus #deeplyhuman #deeplyai

I was recently joined by Dan Hicks - Managing Director at Magnus CQP for the second installament of ‘The Space Between’ podcast. With 20 years’ experience in construction people supply, Dan shared some of the uncomfortable truths he’s faced, how vanishing engineering skillsets, and quality blind spots led to a race to the bottom. Magnus was born as a response to challenging the equilibrium. Not quite a traditional consultancy, not quite a subcontractor. Magnus offers bespoke risk sharing integrated project solutions across engineering, cost and planning. In this episode, Dan opened-up about his personal challenges in managing the many facets of building and growing a new business! You can watch the full episode on the link in the comments 👇