A different breed of financial director has infiltrated the boardroom. With little or no background in the construction industry, the "outsiders" are bringing a fresh eye to construction, questioning many givens and shaking up their companies. Their growing influence reflects construction's current craze for high-value professional services work, such as facilities management and design contracts, and the firms that employ them hope their outside experience can transform the way the industry is run. "General business skills are absolutely more important in an FD than sector-specific knowledge, without question," says Ashley Martin, finance director of Rok. "People who've been here their whole careers will obviously have immense and detailed knowledge of construction, but I have a team of accountants who have always worked in the sector for that. I don't need it."
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