Joining the team at Brian Perry Civil was something of a mid-life adventure when our head of ground engineering set out from her home in the UK in late 2024.

Caroline Rookes bought the whole family – her husband, two children and a dog – arriving right on the eve of her 50^th birthday.

“I had never been to New Zealand before but we are settling in and embracing the outdoor lifestyle our new home in Auckland has to offer,” Caroline says.

Heading up our team of specialist ground engineers represents progression in a career she set her path on from a young age.

“When I was at primary school in London, we went on a site visit to see construction of the Thames flood barrier to help prevent central London from flooding. I thought it was the best thing ever and went home and told Mum I wanted to be a civil engineer.”

Caroline specialised in ground engineering early on and brings to BPC more than 25 years’ experience, most recently as a Business Stream Director for a company called Cementation Skanska where she was responsible for all work across the North of England and Wales.

At BPC she is responsible for our projects across the country, including strategic and long-term planning. “My role is multi-faceted as it involves winning contracts, client relationships, managing our labour and resource across the full lifecycle of a project and with a mixture of being on-site and in the office,” she says.

“I personally like the people side of the role, working with the team and getting out and meeting new people and showing them what the BPC team can do.”

A key difference with piling and foundation work in New Zealand is the seismic considerations that don’t often factor into projects in the UK.

“The BPC team are really up for problem-solving. A lot of the projects involve technical skills that would be considered to push boundaries in the UK but are simply par-for-the-course here. This is providing me with new skills, as well as being able to bring new skills to the table too,” Caroline says.

“People always told me Kiwis were brought up with a can-do attitude and I think you do see that in the work we produce.

“I see so much potential in the future leaders here within BPC and am confident it’s an environment that offers equal opportunities to develop.”

As the only female, senior frontline leader in the team, she is keen to continue her ambassador work in the UK where she worked closely with graduate training schemes to encourage women into the construction industry and is part of Fletcher Construction's ‘Women in Construction’ programme.

“If you want to really change the picture of women in engineering, you have to reach them at a young age. Social stereotypes kick in by intermediate age, so generating interest at a younger age is the way forward.”