Just one minute, Peter Linford

Meet the director of Nobles Construction, which recently completed the refurbishment of Royal Birkdale Golf Club’s club-house as it prepares for this year’s Open Championship.

First job: After leaving Wolverhampton Polytechnic back in the 1980s, I was lucky enough to be offered a job as a trainee-planning engineer at Tarmac Construction. It was a great place to learn the ropes and I worked on several Liverpool schemes.

Current job: Director of Nobles Construction based in Liverpool. I joined the business just over two years ago to strengthen and enhance the management team. Since then we’ve successfully delivered numerous schemes including the Marina Dalglish Breast Cancer Unit at Aintree Hospital and the Starr Fields project at Shorefields School.

First deal: My first job as a project manager was a scheme for the Property Services Agency as it was known then. It was a £5m project involving the construction of a new tax office in Birkenhead.

Last deal: While strictly speaking it is not a traditional deal, Nobles recently tendered for a £5m new-build school scheme that attracted interest from 26 major construction companies from across Europe. In terms of turnover, Nobles was the smallest company to pitch. However, we secured a place on the final tender list of just five contractors.

First car: My first car was a Vauxhall Viva estate that cost £40.

Current car: My current car is a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It’s not exactly the most eco-compliant motor, but is an extremely practical family car.

Worst professional decision: In a former life I undertook a design and build scheme for a well-known High Street retailer. It was a brownfield site and we had failed to undertake a proper ground investigation. It turned out that the site was covered with an existing basement – something we had not factored into our price.

Mentor: I would have to say John Morgan of Morgan Sindall. Prior to joining Nobles, I was regional director for Bluestone (now Morgan Ashurst), Morgan Sindalls contracting division for five years. The values John instilled in each of the company’s divisions have resulted in Morgan Sindall being ranked as one of the UK’s top five contractors. The philosophy was quite simple in terms of always; putting the client first, recognising that talented people were the key to success, to challenge the status quo and to be conservative in terms of financial management. These are values that we aspire to achieve within Nobles together with a determination to be the best in terms of setting high Health & Safety standards.

Current projects: We are currently working on a number of projects including a new-build veterinary surgery for the PDSA in Bootle, developing new training suites at St Catherine’s Hospital for Wirral PCT and constructing a new Sure Start Centre at St Margaret Marys School in Huyton. Furthermore, we have potential orders coming in with a total value approaching £20m.