Hot 100: Amy Chapman, Mace

For Chapman, who joined Mace in August 2003 from Eversheds and now heads the group’s legal and insurance department, there was one clear highlight for her in 2012. “The completion of the Shard was transformational and my personal highlight last year,” she enthuses.

“There have been so many years of getting everything into place, working closely with the commercial team, clients and consultants, and it’s been just fantastic to see it transformed from being an empty site with a load of rubble to the building it is today.

“If I’d stayed in private practice, I never would have been allowed anywhere near a project of this type or on this scale.”

Last year also saw Chapman reap the results of all the legal advice related to Mace’s role as a key member of the CLM consortium that was the Olympic Delivery Authority’s chosen partner for London 2012.

Meanwhile, managing all the legal issues thrown up by the Shard, the Olympics or other Mace projects such as Victoria Circle, Birmingham New Street Gateway or even a housing redevelopment further afield in Russia, is no mean feat, particularly when Chapman has only four qualified solicitors, two paralegals and two legal secretaries at her disposal.

She is quite clearly a doyenne of the construction industry.