We take a look at how a new FIS initiative, the Freedom Programme, is helping business owners step out of day-to-day operations and become excited about their businesses again.
It’s Friday evening — but the week isn’t over. The inbox is overflowing. Two sites are behind schedule. One client still owes £100k. The contract for next week’s job sits unread, and you’re still short of a plasterer in London. For many construction business owners, this is the reality. Long hours. Constant firefighting. Sleepless nights. The business that was meant to provide freedom, instead becomes a cage of chaos and cash-flow strain.
This is the trap that a new initiative from the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) aims to break.
No more weekend calls. No more firefighting. Instead: financial clarity, stronger systems, empowered teams — and the breathing space to work on the business rather than in it. The FIS Freedom Programme has been developed exclusively for FIS members by Dave Drimmie, a Scottish chartered quantity surveyor turned successful business-growth consultant with a genuine passion for
helping others.
Dave has spent the past six months creating the programme, but in reality, it is the culmination of 40-plus years of learning, gained from working with companies ranging from multi-million-pound tier one outfits to cashstrapped start-ups just beginning their journeys. Recently discussing the initiative with Iain McIlwee, FIS Chief Executive, Dave explained that a lot of business owners are running towards the horizon without ever getting there. After decades on construction sites and in boardrooms, I kept seeing the same pattern — owners trapped in survival mode, working harder than ever but getting nowhere and the FIS Freedom Programme is my answer to that. Dave said: “My focus has been on documenting and digitising the core processes that help contractors scale — helping business owners think like CEOs, not tradesmen, by embracing digital tools, AI, and repeatable systems to build companies that can run without them.
“I am passionate about helping these business owners reclaim their time and their lives.
“When you have financial clarity, robust systems, empowered teams, and a clear purpose, that is true freedom.
“The sector has faced relentless pressure in recent years, and in my opinion 2026 promises further uncertainty.”
He went on to explain that conversations with FIS members, have helped identify three critical barriers to growth:
• Cash flow management: Profit on paper but not in the bank.
• Hiring and retention: Finding and keeping quality staff.
• Work-life balance: Owners burned out and short on thinking time. However, beneath those operational problems lie three deeper challenges:
• Resistance to change.
• Fear of making the wrong decision.
• Not committing enough time to work on the business.
“The programme tackles those head-on, giving owners a practical roadmap to grow smarter, not harder, and to move beyond the scourge of day-to-day firefighting, which seriously impacts their ability to move the company forward as much as they would like.
“Contractors who succeed don’t just work harder; they work smarter.
“They have to learn to let go if they want to grow and break through that glass ceiling,” said Dave.
Dave continued to explain that the reality is that most contractors operate in one of three modes:
• Survival: Firefighting daily, short on cash and control.
• Stationary: Steady but stagnant; the owner is the bottleneck.
• Scalable and saleable: Structured systems, empowered teams, and freedom to grow or exit on their own terms.
“The programme is designed to guide FIS members through that transformation step by step.
“Time is a gift,” said Dave. “The programme gives it back. Sure, there will be problems, but simply dealing with problems, being stuck on the back foot, shouldn’t be the norm.”
The Freedom Programme: Training course overview
A 12-week, hands-on initiative combining workshops, practical templates and peer accountability. Each 90-minute session focuses on a key pillar of business transformation:
• Financial clarity: Take control of cash flow and profitability.
• Repeatable systems: Extract what’s in your head and document what scales.
• Empowered employees: Attract, train and retain five-star team members.
• Elevation: Win high-value clients at higher margins.
• Deliver seamlessly: Streamline projects, reduce rework and improve profit.
• Optimise with AI: Use digital tools to save hours every week.
• Make saleable: Create a valuable asset that isn’t owner-dependent.
In between sessions, the team build out the systems so that the owners can delegate operations, with the average time saved expected to be over 40 hours per month, thus allowing them the freedom to focus on strategy and growth.
We take a look at how a new FIS initiative, the Freedom Programme, is helping business owners step out of day-to-day operations and become excited about their businesses again.
FROM FIREFIGHTING TO FREEDOM
“When you have financial clarity, robust systems, empowered teams, and a clear purpose, that is true freedom.”
The created framework has been proven to help owners build scalable, saleable businesses and to reclaim their freedom across four fronts: financial, time, relationships, and purpose.
The pilot and rollout
Backed by CITB funding, a pilot cohort of eight FIS members was launched in late 2025. Early feedback has been exceptionally positive: participants reporting greater clarity, stronger team engagement and renewed confidence in their direction.
One contractor described it as “the first time in years I’ve had space to think strategically.” Based on the pilot’s success, FIS plans a full membership rollout in 2026, a phased approach
supported by a set of “connected learnings” that will be shared across the industry.
Phase One is focused on helping owners extract themselves from the day-to-day operations and once that has been successfully completed, Phase Two concentrates on automation and AI to streamline the business, improve productivity and increase profit.
Find out more The FIS Freedom Programme is already helping contractors reclaim control of their businesses and rediscover why they started in the first place.
Are you a company owner who feels stuck in survival or stationary mode? If so, this is your invitation to break through and start building a scalable — and ultimately saleable — business.
To find out more and register your interest, visit: https://buildingfreedom.co.uk Dave concluded by saying: “The Freedom Programme is much more than a training course; it is a blueprint for how the next generation of construction companies can grow sustainably.
“Working with FIS has been a privilege. It is an organisation that genuinely looks after its members. The positivity from the pilot has been very encouraging — people are talking about renewed hope, and that really resonates with me.
“I truly believe this can be a game-changer for the sector at a critical time for the industry. “I am clear about what freedom really means. Freedom is not about walking away; it is about building something that works seamlessly — with or without you.”
Speaking about Dave’s credentials and the programme he has created, Iain explained that it is aimed at construction businesses with an annual turnover of £1m–£10m, could not be arriving at a better time.
He said: “Dave is a construction man through and through. Not only do we know him, but he knows us. He understands the environments our members work in and has made the programme practical, not
theoretical. It is grounded in real-world experience, knowledge, and evidence that it makes a difference.
“I acknowledge how many members find themselves stuck, wanting growth but struggling to achieve it due to an inability to escape operational pressures — as I speak daily with business owners who are feeling trapped.
“They have built solid firms through sheer effort, yet that effort can become the very thing that holds them back.
“We want to give them hope and a vision of a better way of working in the future. We can channel their energy from survival into sustainable growth.
“For FIS, the Freedom Programme aligns perfectly with its wider mission.”
Iain went on to say: “Our members are among the most resilient and hard-working people in construction, and this initiative gives them the structure and clarity to turn that effort into long-term value.
“Business is competitive, but we are not all in competition all of the time. Collaboration is our strength, and helping each other is something we exist for.
“By sharing what works and embracing the digital tools ahead — including AI, which will be front and centre in the way we all work — we can prepare our sector for the next information age.”
