48 hours that marks the highs and lows of leadership.
It is not inconceivable to think that the figureheads of both the UK’s demolition trade associations have awoken today with a headache.
Newly-elected William Sinclair could be forgiven for sporting that morning-after-the-night-before feeling having emulated his father to claim the top spot at the National Federation of Demolition Contractors. Steve Jack, Sinclair’s opposite number at the Institute of Demolition Engineers, may also be suffering following the sudden, unexpected and seemingly acrimonious departure of IDE national secretary Valerie Stroud on Thursday.
But while Sinclair’s ills can be cured by a hair of the dog, some strategically-applied paracetamol and some bracing Dundee air, Jack’s headache may be somewhat more difficult to shift.
The presidency of a trade association is not, typically, a full-time engagement. While Sinclair is preparing for his company’s next major demolition contract and Jack is easing his employer – Magnox – through decommissioning and demolition of a number of nuclear power stations, the day-to-day reins of their respective office are held by another. At the NFDC, that other is CEO Howard Button. At the IDE, that other WAS Valerie Stroud.
Although most members knew her as the welcoming face behind the reception desk of the IDE’s increasingly successful seminars, Stroud was in fact the administrative and constitutional hub of the Institute. And although her lady-is-not-for-turning style may have contributed to her formidable reputation, few would question that she lived and breathed the IDE. She was an important right-hand woman to a series of IDE presidents, and was an invaluable catalyst when the late David Ross Turner was taken ill during his presidency and his place was taken by Terry Quarmby. Until relatively recently, the IDE’s official address was Stroud’s front room.
Like any formidable female, though, Stroud was not without her detractors. She regularly walked a fine line between traditionalist and set in her ways; and her vice-like grip of the IDE’s website and its magazine were both a fault and a virtue.
Regardless, her sudden and unexpected departure leaves a sizeable void, one that will be difficult to fill. But fill it they must; and that task falls to president Steve Jack and his council of management who gathered at a hastily arranged extraordinary general meeting in London yesterday afternoon.
Of course, no-one is irreplaceable and in the weeks or months to come, Stroud’s role will be filled. Fulfilling her role will be one thing; filling her shoes may be quite another.
