The Casey Group has successfully achieved seven Gateway 2 approvals and attributes this to early contractor involvement; strong collaboration and championing its value of ‘embrace ownership’. Paul Byrne, COO of The Casey Group, shares with LABM the work the organisation is doing to deliver building safety, which includes setting up the Casey Building Safety and Skills Academy.
A topic which has dominated conversations across the construction industry this year has been how best to navigate the Building Safety Act. The Act and its obligations have required all parties to make the necessary operational and cultural changes needed to successfully achieve Gateway 2 approvals.
It’s been just over two years since Gateway 2 came into force under the Building Safety Act. It is driving a seismic shift in how we build and remediate homes. Everyone involved — including the regulator, government, developers and contractors — wants the same thing: safer buildings and greater public confidence. It has not been the smoothest of journeys so far; there have been initial challenges, a steep learning curve, and it is understandable there has been a sense of frustration.
We welcome the inquiry led by Baroness Taylor of Bolton, looking at how implementation can be improved. However, at The Casey Group, what we believe we need to do is work on collaboration, communication, and commitment to create the right culture in our own organisation. That’s what we’ve focused on, and we are seeing the benefits.
The Gateway to Success
At Casey, we’ve successfully achieved seven Gateway 2 approvals, so we know it can be done. We believe that success comes down to early contractor involvement, strong collaboration across the full project team, and championing our value of ‘embrace ownership’, where we focus inwardly rather than outwardly at what we ourselves can do to influence positive outcomes and constantly improve, despite whatever challenges that may exist.
We work predominantly with social landlords, which naturally aligns us around a shared purpose — improving lives through safer, better homes. Long before the Grenfell tragedy and the Hackitt Review, we were already embedding safety, quality and sustainability at the heart of our work. The residents have always been the focus of our work, ensuring they have a voice that is genuinely heard, and forms part of our stakeholder engagement groups.
We’ve also invested heavily in our people and our processes. By focusing on engagement, training and wellbeing, we’ve built a culture where every employee understands their role in keeping people safe. This has helped us achieve Gold Investors in People status and become a Building a Safer Future (BSF) Champion — recognition that our systems, leadership and culture meet the standards sought by Dame Judith Hackitt.
Becoming a BSF Champion wasn’t just about the recognition. It helped us strengthen our approach — including the way we evidence every aspect of what we do. We have developed robust recording systems that create a full audit trail on every project. This paves the way for success at Gateway 3 and furnishes our clients with the comprehensive evidence packs, who are often surprised by the level of detail. It helps give everyone confidence that we’ve built what was designed, to the highest quality, which is then knowingly left in safe hands.
Earlier this year, we were proud to host Dame Judith Hackitt at our Rochdale headquarters and at our Avro Hollows site in Manchester, where we’re remediating four tower blocks. She saw first-hand the culture and care our teams bring to their work and some of the legacy issues the industry is facing.
Building Safety, Building People
A safe industry starts with skilled, supported people. That’s why we set up the Casey Building Safety and Skills Academy, now in its third year. It has raised awareness across the industry and our supply chain, helping us and our partners learn the skills to deliver safer, higher-quality buildings. It’s also why we invest heavily in leadership and wellbeing — because great work happens when people feel valued and responsible. All our people are encouraged to ‘do the right thing’ and are empowered to do so.
It is important to us that Casey is a workplace to thrive; where people are proud to work and where culture, communication and care sit alongside technical excellence.
Collective Progress for the Industry
Each Gateway 2 approval has taught us something new. What’s made the difference is clear: multi-disciplinary teamwork, clear task ownership, and accountability at every stage. When everyone understands where responsibility sits — and communication flows both ways — we deliver better outcomes.
We’re sharing what we’ve learned with others, through industry forums, the development of our own Building Safety Academy for external and internal teams, and direct engagement with the regulator. Change takes time, but if we keep sharing what works, we can all move faster to benefit clients, communities and residents alike.
Reform or mindset?
So, does the system need reform? Many will say yes. I think we need to look first at our mindset.
As an industry, we need to rise above frustration and focus on why these rules exist: to save lives and build trust. Clearer guidance and more proactive communication will help, but culture and collaboration will make the real difference.
Building on success
The Government continues to call for more homes and more remediation of unsafe buildings, and we’re seeing real funding commitments to back this. To meet the needs of the Building Safety Act, we need stronger partnerships, honest conversations, and a shared determination to get it right.
When we do that, Gateway 2 stops being a barrier and becomes what it was always meant to be — a gateway to better, safer buildings. That’s the approach we’ve taken at Casey, and we’re proud of the difference it’s making for our clients, our people and the communities we serve, realising our purpose of Improving Lives.
Header image: The Casey Group was principle contractor on Manchester City Council’s Avro Hollows social housing estate development, which successfully passed through Gateway 2
