Episode Overview Seton Walsh-Rose sits down with Matthew Mackey — National Service Lead for Cost & Commercial Management at Arcadis and founder of Property Leaders Brisbane. Originally from the north of England, Matthew arrived in Brisbane in 2010 knowing no one, stepping down from a director role in Manchester to a senior cost manager position to crack a new market. Sixteen years on, he leads a national cost team he built from two people to twenty-five, and founded one of Queensland's most active industry communities. This conversation was recorded days before he returned to the UK for good. Chapters:00:10 Welcome & Introduction 00:23 The Role & Building the Team 01:39 From Preston to Brisbane 04:28 UK vs Australian QS 06:30 Founding Property Leaders Brisbane 11:16 First Thursday Club & the Shovel Podcast 14:40 Real Business Development 17:42 “Hard to Get Into Brisbane” 21:34 The Cost Story Nobody Believes 23:30 2023: +14.5% in a Single Year 25:44 The Quiet Market & Predictions to 2032 28:34 Labour, Trades & the Tier-One Squeeze 34:07 “No Silver Bullet” — The 15 Levers 38:29 Politics, Election Cycles & Surety 42:35 Why We Don't Build Homes Like Cars 46:00 Who's Doing Modular Well 47:44 Why Government Must Drive the Market 51:18 AI in Construction — Desk vs Site 54:08 The Three-Tier Labour Market & Unions 57:05 $250k Trades & What Drives Cost 58:13 Book Recommendation 59:09 Reflections & Thanks Key Takeaways 1. Relationships are the real pipeline 2. Business development is consistency, not lead-counting 3. The cost number nobody believes 4. The quiet market is the calm before the storm 5. There's no silver bullet — there are ~15 levers 6. You can't get production-line economics from one-off thinking 7. Certainty unlocks investment — and government must move first 8. AI changes the desk before it changes the site 9. Labour, not materials, is the real 2032 bottleneck 10. Leadership is a skill you keep earning Soundbites:“It's very hard to get into Brisbane when you're in Brisbane if you don't have relationships.” “If you're going to build relationships you will get opportunities ultimately, but it's not overnight — it's being consistent in that approach. And for me, that's what business development is.” “From about 2000 to 2019, construction costs year on year went up by about one to one and a half percent.” Connect and Follow Matthew MackeyLinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/mattmackeyWebsite: https://www.arcadis.com/References & Resources:Neil Gull — Matthew's long-time colleague who joined him to start Arcadis' Australian cost business in 2017. Mitchell Brandtman — Brisbane quantity surveying firm Matthew first joined on arriving in Australia. RICS — Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (UK professional body). AIQS — Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (https://www.aiqs.com.au). Brisbane 2032 Olympic & Paralympic Games — the infrastructure pipeline driving the conversation. Queen's Wharf Brisbane — major project referenced re labour competition and trades being poached.Cross River Rail — referenced re repeated business cases across changes of government. Queensland productivity / infrastructure review — referenced; Property Leaders contributed recommendations on pipeline surety. MMC — Modern Methods of Construction (umbrella term for prefab, modular, panelised and volumetric building). DFMA — Design for Manufacture and Assembly. ECI — Early Contractor Involvement. GMP — Guaranteed Maximum Price. GFC — Global Financial Crisis (the catalyst for Matthew's move to Australia).LET’S BE Inspired📸 https://www.facebook.com/beinspiredcommunity/📱https://www.linkedin.com/company/beinspiredpodcast📸https://www.instagram.com/beconnected_podcast/🎧 https://open.spotify.com/show/5DbuoR8Ztq3sGYa5rrKzq7🔗https://www.youtube.com/@BEInspiredPodcast🎵 https://www.tiktok.com/@beconnectedpodcast🌍My website - https://be-inspired.net