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What does work at FCC Construc - tion mean to you? For me it means being able to commu- nicate the achievements of the team here in South Wales on what is the lar- gest infrastructre project in Wales. At the same time, it means I benefit from being part of one of the largest cons- truction companies in the world and seeing FCC’s commitment to sustai- nability and the ways in which we are embracing new technology makes me proud to be a part of FCC Construction. What would you highlight about your work as communications di - rector of the A465 project in Wales (United Kingdom)? We have fully embraced social media as a way of communicating effectively with the communities we are working in. Our project is challenging as we are constructing a new 17.7km dual carriageway in the same location as the existing road, in what are of- ten densely populated areas. So, we need to ensure that the local commu- nities are kept fully informed of our work, and particularly any planned road closures. It’s also important to show the progress we are making on the Project. In August 2021 we set-up our Fa - cebook page and in just 26 mon- ths we have attracted over 10,000 followers. This has been achieved through organic growth and based on a strategy of providing high qua- lity content that is timely and of in- terest. The page continues to grow in popularity and is proving to be a powerful communication tool. Per- sonally, it’s always rewarding to post the latest progress video and pho- tographs as they showcase the ex- ceptional achievements being made by the team. What is the company’s relationship with local communities? Our community benefits team, in - cluding two public liaison officers, is dedicated to working with the com- munities we are building the road in. This includes having a visitor centre, running drop-in sessions and public meetings. These contact points give members of the public the opportu- nity to find out more about our work and have their questions answered. We answer messages daily and have supported over 50 local community groups through our Community Be- nefits Programme. We also deliver the A465 Schools Engagement Pro - gramme that has seen us provide over 18,000 hours of engagement activity since 2021. We always aim to be as supportive as possible for the local communities and this has resulted in us benefitting from a positive and respectful relationship. What are the most important as- pects that a communication mana - ger should have in a project or in a construction company? With all communications I believe the most important starting point is to understand who your audience is. As we are building in long established communities, our communications strategy needed to focus on providing information that would be of local re- levance. Of course, we also tailor our communications to other audiences, for example we prepare a newsletter for our staff each month and we pro - duce another newsletter four times a year for an external audience. This allows us to deliver content that is of greatest relevance for each group. Understanding that people are bom- barded with messages every day is an important realisation because our content will always be competing with these other messages. To help our messages stand out we make good use of graphics, photographic and video content to capture atten- tion. This improves the chances of our messages being read, which is of course the goal. Listening is a critically important as- pect of communications, and by liste- ning to our audiences we develop and adapt our messaging to ensure it is highly relevant. John Jackson Communications Manager for the A465 project in Wales I N T E R V I E W P E O P L E 34 P E O P L E