Our Board

James Speller joined the family business in 2001, beginning his career in a site supervisory role where he gained valuable front-line experience in construction. This hands-on exposure provided him with a deep understanding of project execution, laying the foundation for his future leadership within the company.

Following several years on-site, James transitioned into the pre-construction side of the business, where he played a pivotal role in shaping Speller Metcalfe’s strategic approach to diversifying into new market sectors. His natural progression through business development led him to head the pre-construction team as Pre-Construction Director. In this capacity, James oversaw the development of the company’s strategic profile, enhanced in-house design capabilities, identified new growth opportunities, and managed complex bid submissions.

In 2022, James was appointed Managing Director of Speller Metcalfe, where he continues to champion the company’s core values. His primary objective is to drive Speller Metcalfe’s evolution, ensuring the business remains at the forefront of the construction industry. Under his leadership, the company is dedicated to delivering innovative, collaborative, and sustainable construction projects, solidifying its reputation as a trusted leader in the field.

James is a joint shareholder, alongside Adrian Speller and Steve Speller.

Adrian has been fundamental in guiding our business to an industry-leading position within low carbon and sustainable construction, undertaking many UK firsts within BIM, Passivhaus, MULTI COMFORT and Integrated Project Insurance (IPI).

A respected and intelligent member of the team, Adrian wears lots of different hats including overseeing group quality and compliance, providing technical guidance at pre-construction and construction stages and team management. Together with brother James, Adrian strives to position Speller Metcalfe as an industry leader, while retaining the family values and teamwork ethos the company was built upon.

Adrian is a BREEAM Accredited Professional, Passivhaus Tradesperson and was awarded the accolade ‘Young Achiever of the Year’ at the 2015 SW Built Environment Awards.

Adrian is a joint shareholder, alongside James Speller and Steve Speller.

Director and original founder Steve is passionate and proud of Speller Metcalfe’s history and a firm believer that the open, honest and family orientated principles that form the core of our business are the key to its success. Steve claims his focus has always been to employ the right people, nurture their development and above all, to encourage the progress of those who can do the job better than himself!

Steve took retirement in 2021, but remains a director of our Executive Board and joint owner of the company alongside sons James Speller and Adrian Speller.

With close to 30 years’ experience with Speller Metcalfe – working his way from Site Manager to Operations Director – Bill’s experience of construction-focused delivery, technical understanding and personal attributes prove invaluable to the business.

Prior to his role as Operations Director, Bill successfully managed Speller Metcalfe’s Small Works division for many years to undertake several negotiated works for repeat clients and ensured the completion of many difficult and prestigious contracts.

As Operations Director, Bill provides direction and leadership to the operational side of the business and develops strategies to help improve productivity and efficiency across the wider Speller Metcalfe Group. The company’s success relies heavily upon team cooperation and understanding of people’s strengths, both of which are key attributes in Bill’s armoury.

Judith is a highly experienced, successful and well-regarded Finance Director and qualified accountant with over 25 years’ experience working in the construction industry. She began her construction career as part of a joint rail venture owned by Alstom and Tarmac Construction, which later became Carillion Rail, before moving into Carillion’s Property Development Business and later their Private Finance Business.

Her experience extends to regional, national and global levels within the education, healthcare, commercial, industrial, travel, retail, hospitality, leisure and residential sectors, with many joint venture developments undertaken in partnership with family businesses.

Joining in 2021, Judith brings a strong, disciplined and analytical approach to furnish the directors with accurate, relevant and up-to-date financials, where she also sits on the Audit Committee.

Mark joined the business in 2013 after 13 years working for a large Midlands contractor as a Senior Quantity Surveyor. Mark has fulfilled Commercial Manager and Regional Manager Roles at Speller Metcalfe during his tenure, before progressing to Regional Director in May 2018.

His strong commercial acumen, coupled with a focus on people, relationships, and collaborative working practices when managing our Malvern and London divisions continue to reinforce the unique environment that makes Speller Metcalfe a success.

Rob joined Speller Metcalfe after 14 years with a regional contractor and then international construction firm, where he undertook strategic roles including Divisional Director and Operations Manager. He has key experience within competitively tendered schemes and frameworks including Birmingham City Council, Leicester County Council and the EFA Framework.

Working in sectors such as care, student accommodation, hotels and leisure, education and commercial, Rob has knowledge and experience of a variety of contracts and brings strong commercial knowledge of working with partnership and framework contracts, traditional and design & build.

Chris is a very experienced senior executive, starting his career at KPMG in London where he qualified as a chartered accountant before moving to the head office of FTSE Top 30 engineering firm Siebe, undertaking significant projects in the oil and gas, food and drink  and intelligent building systems sectors.

He then took on various director roles at Midlands Electricity, including Commercial Director, before taking on the role of Asset Management Director and setting up a Telecoms subsidiary. He then moved to the main board of a FTSE 350 company where he was responsible for corporate governance, strategy, business intelligence supply chain, pricing, IT, HR and the acquisition programme.

Chris joined Speller Metcalfe in 2020 as Chair of the newly established Audit Committee, who are responsible for governing the company’s financials. Chris then joined the Board as Non-Executive Director in 2021.

Martyn joined Speller Metcalfe in 2018 following the retirement of our previous long-standing Commercial Director, bringing us over 20 years’ experience of working for both regional and international construction companies, latterly Bouygues. His experience covers all sectors of construction and housing (public and private), including most of the major regional and selected national frameworks, as well as exposure to PFI schemes.

With a strong track record of astute commercial management Martyn delivers valuable insight to the Board of Directors. He is helping to drive forward our business strategy by aligning our regional commercial teams (enabling sharing of knowledge and best practice), delivering on new processes to increase business efficiency and working closely with our Pre-Construction department to manage project risks.

Matthew has been with the company for over 20 years, starting as a site labourer during summer holidays, then progressing from quantity surveyor to now managing the company’s Small Works division as divisional director.

Intelligent, amiable and commercially astute, Matthew successfully manages the construction and commercial teams for the Small Works division ensuring that they maintain their reputation for delivering high level repeat business and creating positive, lasting client relationships.

Matthew also encompasses the wider operational needs of the business in support of the Board of Directors and plays a valuable role in developing group procedures.

Mark is a loyal and committed member of the Speller Metcalfe group and since joining the company in 2006, has steadily progressed from quantity surveyor to divisional director for Speller Metcalfe’s residential arm of the business.

Mark’s fastidious attitude towards commercial and construction management ensures that the team deliver a strong portfolio of high-quality projects and maintain a positive working relationship with a wide range of housing clients.