Architect has grand designs on home city

Jun 22 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

The architect who created the £36m Trinity Gardens development on Newcastle's Quayside has strong views on the city's buildings. And as regional chairman of the Institute of Directors, his forthright opinions do not stop at bricks and mortar, writes Peter McCusker.

Elphick’s day job as an environment and sustainability director at Newcastle architects _space is just one part of a multi-faceted life.

He is chairman of the Institute of Directors for the North East, he lectures in architecture, acts as an expert witness, involves himself in restoration projects, paints watercolours, sails and windsurfs. “Architecture is my job and it interests me, but I like many different things. I like the idea of having 10% of oneself in ten different areas of one’s life. I do not work every hour God gives and like to spend my spare time doing things that interest me.

“The Institute of Directors provides contact with people in different quarters of business and that is extremely refreshing, I find it helps develop better ideas for my own business and hopefully I can give something back.

“I am a great believer that if you are involved in something then get fully involved, and if you’re not prepared to get actively involved, then you shouldn’t really bother in the first place.”

Unusually for an interviewee, he has prepared an itinerary of the subjects he wishes to cover and is quick to leap into some unexpected territory.

One subject of many which provokes his ire is what he sees as a shortage of good quality non-executive company directors in the region.

“A company wants the best ideas and the best people and we have to pay them for their skills.

But whether it’s possible for some of our non-executive directors to curtail a strong chairman is another matter.

It’s possible that many non-executive directors may not want to express strong personal views if they feel their position, and their nice salary, may be in jeopardy.

“We lack enough individuals of the right calibre in the North East, there are not enough of these high-quality business people to spread around the region.”

Elphick, a proud North Easterner, is a strong supporter of the Journal’s ‘Think North East First’ campaign extolling its virtues in encouraging the both the public and businesses to source goods and services in the region.

“Buying North East should be a principle, not a rule, but I believe there is a psychological problem to be overcome with the buyers in some of the larger organisations,” he says.

“As a buyer, answerable to the board, your neck is on the line. Unfortunately some purchasing managers completely lack confidence. If they buy local and are let down, for whatever reason, they are in trouble. But if they take the safe option and buy from the national or international supplier and it goes wrong then they have more of a safety net. We need buyers to be more courageous, to be braver and support local businesses.”