Karen Kirkham is a construction lawyer at BDB Pitmans LLP. She has 30 years’ experience working with JCT contracts, advising clients from all sectors of the industry. Her clients include commercial developers, occupiers, charities, local authorities, public infrastructure companies, contractors, sub-contractors, architects, and individual householders. Karen has been listed as a leading construction legal practitioner in Chambers since 2008 and regularly publishes articles on topical construction issues.

Karen’s involvement and interest in JCT goes back a long way. She is a former legal director of the Construction Confederation during a key period for the industry when major legislation, including the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 and Arbitration Act 1996, was being passed.

Gary Neal is head of fire at Skanska UK. With almost 45 years’ experience under his belt, including 35 years working in fire safety, Gary is Skanska UK’s go-to fire expert.

With a broad career spanning work in the rail sector, both above and below ground, as well as significant building projects, Gary has put continuous learning at the heart of his approach, gaining an honours degree in Construction Site fire safety and collaborating with the London Fire Brigade and Government regulators, to remain at the forefront of evolving practice and legislation. Gary’s focus is on the management controls and safety measures needed to prevent risk of fire. He leads knowledge-sharing to ensure best practice in every part of the organisation’s approach – from design to procurement and delivery of fully compliant solutions. Put simply, he drives Skanska’s quality management when it comes to fire safety.

Amanda Long is chief executive of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, the Building a Safer Future Charter and Construction Product Information Ltd. She has over 25 years’ experience working in senior executive roles for a range of national and international organisations in the commercial, public, social enterprise and charitable sectors.

Amanda brings a wealth of expertise driving ethical business practice and championing consumer protection. She has been responsible for developing ground-breaking Corporate Social Responsibility frameworks to improve standards and in helping organisations with behavioural and culture change programmes focusing on public engagement, sustainability, workforce welfare and consumer protection. Her previous roles include director-general of Consumers International, CEO of Corporate Culture, head of corporate responsibility at Anglian Water Services, and international projects manager (sustainability) at Unilever.