Meet Ben Morphew, Medlec's New Building Fabric Contract Manager

13 May

Ben Morphew has spent a decade managing building fabric contracts for commercial clients across London. He knows reactive maintenance inside out, started his career as an electrician, and understands what it takes to keep complex sites running. He joined Medlec in March. Nine weeks in, he's already involved in everything.

Tell us about your background before Medlec.

I spent several years running a building fabric division at a facilities company in London. We covered public sector buildings - libraries, children's centres, all sorts - and then more recently I was managing contracts for commercial clients across the city. It was a demanding role and I enjoyed it, but after a number of years I was ready for something new.

So why Medlec?

I wanted a different sector and a fresh challenge. When I looked into Medlec, what stood out was the potential. The capability is already there - the clients, the range of services, the team. I could see where this business could go, and that was the deciding factor.

What's it been like since you joined?

Straight in at the deep end, which is how I like it. Learning the systems, getting to know the team, meeting clients, getting involved with estimating and design work from the off. It's been a good start.

What helps is that I came up as an electrician. I've been in construction all my working life, and in reactive maintenance for about ten years. So when I'm in the office and one of the engineers on the road hits a problem, I know what that situation feels like. Reactive work is a lonely job when you're mobile. Keeping that in mind is important when you're the one managing the team.

You and Aaron go back further than Medlec.

We did our electrical apprenticeships at the same college. We hadn't crossed paths in years and then ended up at the same company. Neither of us saw that one coming.

What's life like outside of work?

My kids take up most of it, and I wouldn't have it any other way. My daughter is 15 and plays academy football, which is three nights a week and most weekends. My son is 12 and just as football mad, so the rest of the week takes care of itself. I played golf to a professional level at 17, but spare time is hard to come by at this stage of life. One day. When I'm not running the kids around, I'm usually doing something at home, gardening, building things. I'm not someone who sits still for long.