By Sam Fletcher, Key Account Director at JPC by Samsic
Building strong relationships has been at the heart of everything I’ve done throughout my career. To truly understand my ability to develop these skills, my experience is what I believe has had a great impact. From the first day I stepped into a pub as a manager, I knew that success would always be about people. I managed pubs that needed a steady hand and clear direction. I learnt early on about working with teams who had different personalities and expectations and building trust with head office while making sure paying customers left happy. People often don’t see how complex that can be, but those experiences laid the foundation for how I work with people now.
After a few years, I made the jump to construction. That was a big change, but I wanted to challenge myself. Working on steel sites taught me about precision and about how to build relationships in an environment where mistakes can have serious consequences. Every day, I was dealing with site managers and other crews, all under pressure to deliver on time. You had to earn respect quickly by showing that you knew what you were doing, but also by being able to listen and adapt. That experience taught me to handle conflict and manage partnerships in a way that gets results.
Jumping forward to when I joined JPC by Samsic as an Operations Manager. As the business grew, I moved into a Senior Operations Manager role and eventually became Key Account Director. That’s where collaboration really took on a new meaning for me. Managing a single site is one thing, managing a diverse portfolio under one umbrella is another. Suddenly, I wasn’t just representing myself. I was representing the values and standards of JPC by Samsic across multiple sites, each with its own separate and unique demands, teams, and client relationships.
I realised that building and maintaining relationships at this level requires more than just delivering the service. It’s about creating an environment where teams feel well supported and our clients feel confident. I’ve always seen myself as a facilitator, my role is to connect different parts of the business, to help my teams feel empowered to handle their sites, and to give clients the consistency and quality they expect. That means being available when needed but also trusting my managers to make the right decisions.
I believe that transparency is key to this. I don’t believe in hiding problems or sugarcoating issues. If something goes wrong, I’m the first to hold my hands up and say, “That’s on me, and here’s how we’re going to fix it.” That honesty builds trust, and trust is what keeps relationships strong, especially when things get tough.
Collaboration isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about making space for others to be heard and finding ways to bring everyone together.
One of the proudest moments for me at JPC by Samsic was 2024 award wins. Every single one was based on collaboration. Without our clients, especially Savills, we wouldn’t even have been in the running. Those awards weren’t just about JPC by Samsic, they were about the relationships we’ve built and the way we work together. That’s ultimately what made them so special.
I put a lot of time into developing my teams. Assistant managers and site managers are the ones who make relationships happen on the ground. I make sure they feel valued and confident to step into client meetings, KPI discussions, and day-to-day interactions. We do regular team meetings, sometimes at different places, for example, we have previously done one at the Natural History Museum, to keep things fresh but also to help build a sense of community. That’s important because they need to trust in each other, not solely on me.
Looking at the future, in terms of building collaboration and relationships, technology has changed the way we work, but it’s important to recognise that it can’t replace human connection. We use Teams and other tools to keep communication flowing, but it’s still the face-to-face conversations that build the strongest relationships. A quick joke, a smile, or a reassuring word can make all the difference. I always bring my sense of humour into meetings, it helps to break the tension and often makes people more open.
In the end, collaboration and relationship management are about honesty, consistency, and investing in people. You must care about the people you work with, whether they’re your team or your client. That’s what builds trust and keeps it strong, even when things go wrong. It’s what I have found turns a good contract into a great partnership.
