Callum Agnew is Director – Mission Critical for the newly launched Soben APAC office in Singapore office. We catch up with Callum for an insight into a typical day at Soben APAC, his career to date, and his aspirations for Soben APAC.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Working for a global consultancy means each day is always different – from early morning calls with the Americas, or late-night calls with the European teams. Time management is important in order to integrate my personal life with my work life. Working from home for the best part of the last two years has allowed this integration to be a lot more seamless and manageable.
Exercise and getting away from ‘screens’ is a big part of my mental wellbeing. My normal routine includes walking my dog Yumi each morning and evening, along with some exercise which would include either cycling, running or gym.
As the Soben business is relatively new to the APAC market, most of my time is predominantly focussed on brand building, client and peer consultant engagement, and business planning.
What first attracted you to the construction industry?
Like most Quantity Surveying professionals, I stumbled into the industry. In my early life I had a part time job at a construction supply company called Bunnings, which every Australian would know of, working in their trade quotes department. Originally, my life plan was to get a building trade, however after speaking with different tradesmen, they encouraged me to get into the management side of construction, which lead me into finding a degree in Quantity Surveying; and as they say, the rest is history.
What are your predictions for the construction industry over the next 12-18 months?
I predict the construction industry to continue to escalate over the coming few years. Global demand across infrastructure, renewables, life science, healthcare and high-tech manufacturing will continue to put pressure on an already saturated supply chain.
Data centres in APAC will see high growth in 2022 as COVID-19 becomes more predictable and manageable, especially around procurement and labour, as we learn how to live in this new world. The focus on Net Zero will be paramount as it becomes a priority across all government and organisation’s agendas to improve their carbon offset commitments.
What are your goals for Soben in that time?
I’m excited! Soben will continue to be a market disruptor as we persist in challenging what has been a traditional service offering. Our bespoke operating model means we are agile and able to quickly adapt to clients’ requirements without bureaucracy and red tape.
Attracting the world’s best talent is a key focus across the region, with the ethos that we are only as good as our people. Creating a culture of empowered, high performing employees will be a key goal of mine, which in turn, will provide high quality service outputs to our clients.
What have been your defining career moments?
A standout highlight would be agreeing to go on a short-term project secondment in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2013, which ended up being a life changing moment, as I soon after agreed to move to South-East Asia. Working across Asia has given me the opportunities to work with world-leading organisations whilst supporting them on some of the world’s largest programmes of work.
To find out more about Soben APAC get in touch with Callum at [email protected]
