Founder and chair of the group, Ray O’Rourke is also an iconic figure in the industry, despite his well-known reluctance to step into the spotlight. Attendees at Construction Scotland’s inaugural annual conference in Glasgow next week (7 October) will therefore be queuing up to hear his keynote address which will focus on innovation.

Irishman Ray – born in Co Mayo in 1947 - founded R O’Rourke & Son in 1977 and commenced trading the following year. The business acquired the construction arm of John Laing PLC in 2001, and with the acquisition of Barclay Mowlem in 2006, created today’s extended international engineering and construction group. In 2011 he was awarded an honorary knighthood in recognition of his services to construction.

Working across the UK, Canada, the Middle East, South East Asia and Australia, Laing O’Rourke’s operations span a range of sectors including buildings, transportation, power, mining & natural resources and water & utilities. Ray chairs the Group Executive Committee and is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction and operational management of the Group’s business activities.

One factor behind the success of Laing O’Rourke has been its innovative approach – the company has led the way in transforming traditional construction and engineering approaches, based on its unique ‘Design for Manufacture and Assembly’ methodology, in order to meet demands from governments, developers and clients for safer, more cost-effective and sustainable solutions – delivered faster and to a higher quality.

To this end Laing O’Rourke has been a pioneer in ‘offsite construction’ delivering an extensive range of modular solutions through sophisticated manufacturing capabilities. Just one example is The Leadenhall Building, towering 224m above the city of London, which has been delivered using Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology, with at least 83% of its construction taking place off site. This ‘virtual construction’ approach allowed all involved to visualise the delivery solution for the structure’s distinct asymmetrical shape – necessitated by planning requirements to maintain views of St Paul’s Cathedral – prior to mobilising on site. Its delivery has been a feat of logistics management thanks to the majority of the engineering and structural work being carried out in the factory rather than in situ.

Ray O’Rourke said: “Innovation has been central to the success I have had throughout my career and I am delighted to accept the invitation to be the guest speaker at the launch of the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre.

“The fact that the Innovation Centre is working in partnership with 11 Scottish universities will make a significant contribution to delivering transformational change in the construction industry in Scotland – a vision that resonates with Laing O’Rourke’s vision to ‘challenge and change the construction industry worldwide’ and I have no doubt that developments here will impact on the rest of the UK and far beyond as this research and development starts to come to fruition.”

Ray O’Rourke will deliver the keynote speech at the Construction Scotland Annual Conference at the Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow on 7 October 2014. The full programme for the event, which will be chaired by BBC Scotland’s Sally Magnusson, is outlined below – register here to attend.

PROGRAMME

08.15 – Registration (Innovation Demo Zone open)

08.55 – 09.00 Welcome: Ed Monaghan, Chair, Construction Scotland

09.00 – 09.45 Opening remarks from Deputy First Minister and Minister for Local Government & Planning, followed by Q&A

09.45 – 10.15 Construction Scotland overview: Ed Monaghan

10.15 – 10.35 Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) overview: Bill McBride, Interim Chair

10.35 – 11.00 Break (Innovation Demo Zone open)

11.00 – 11.20 CSIC Partner: Colin Sinclair, NHS Scotland

11.20 – 11.40 CSIC Partner: John McGurk, CIPD Scotland

11.40 – 12.00 CSIC Partner: Prof Sean Smith, Edinburgh Napier University

12.00 – 12.15 CSIC team introductions: Stephen Good CEO

12.15 – 13.30 Lunch (Innovation Demo Zone open)

13.30 – 14.15 Keynote Address: Ray O’Rourke

14.15 – 14.45 Q&A with Ray O’Rourke

14.45 – 15.15 Overview of the funding support process and launch of first formal call for project proposals by CSIC

15.15 – 15.30 Closing remarks: Ed Monaghan

15.30 – 16.30 Networking (Innovation Demo Zone open)