BIRMINGHAM-based construction contractor BSN Group has appointed Ben Reaney as preconstruction manager, strengthening its cost planning capability as it continues to expand its pre-construction offer. The appointment follows another period of growth for the business, which delivered a record turnover of £45 million for its 2025 financial year.

Ben brings nearly two decades of industry experience to the role, including 15 years at a major Tier One contractor where he progressed from management trainee to pre-construction manager. He has since worked in private development, with a particular focus on brownfield regeneration.

Nick Gibb, joint managing director at BSN, said: “Ben’s appointment significantly bolsters our pre-construction capability, particularly in cost planning at the earliest stages of a project. His experience across contracting and development means he understands how to provide robust, market-informed advice that supports better decision-making from feasibility onwards.

“As we continue to grow, that ability to give clear, realistic cost insight – aligned with design and delivery – is critical to the service we offer our clients.”

Ben says: “I couldn’t be happier to join the team at BSN. We’re an SME, and we’ve got the price point and agility to match – but the staff here have tier one experience and offer the level of service you’d expect from a tier one contractor. It’s a company that’s going from strength to strength, and our capability to deliver ambitious projects is growing all the time.”

As part of his new role, Ben will focus on strengthening BSN’s structured approach to cost planning, supporting clients from early-stage feasibility through to fully developed cost plans. The contractor operates a three-tiered process: an initial viability check, followed by an elemental cost plan, and finally a fully costed offer, enabling clients to commit time and money with confidence as schemes progress.

Ben’s priority is giving clients honest, market-tested advice from the earliest stages. Rather than producing optimistic rates to push an appraisal through, BSN’s approach is to provide a realistic range grounded in regional factors, design maturity and Building Safety Act implications. As projects mature, so does the depth of advice, with clients receiving full openness and transparency on pricing at every stage.

“That’s far better than progressing a project to the next stage, where more time and money are committed to something that may be under greater pressure than initially anticipated,” Ben said.

He also highlighted the importance of integrating cost planning with design development from the outset, with the added benefit of ECI (early contractor involvement), to bring up to date input from live projects

“Design leads the cost, and cost leads the design. The sooner you get the two aligned, the smaller the gap between them and the less rework you end up with. The closer the relationship between the design manager, the estimator and the QS, the more robust the final cost is for the client.”

BSN’s working environment supports that kind of close collaboration, Ben adds, in part because there is a direct line of connection with the decision-makers: “All three directors are present in the building every day. There’s no management by committee – instead we can make decisive choices to bring the strongest benefits to clients. Even as BSN scales, we’re determined not to lose touch with the coalface. That is the key – combining industry-leading capacity with the responsiveness of an SME.”