Roy Adams, the former director of Laing O’Rourke’s Radical Innovation Group, has set up a regeneration consultancy after his sudden departure from the contractor.

Adams said his firm, Entity Partnerships, would work with regeneration organisations to improve leadership skills. He said: “Successful regeneration needs strength of personality. Manchester is a perfect example.”

Adams has also joined the board of HKR Architects as a non-executive director, where he will be responsible for developing the firm’s strategy.

He said he had chosen to work with HKR because he believed he could help the firm realise its many plans. Although there was no set structure to his work, with the firm, Adams said he would be involved with it for at least 25% of the working year.

Adams, who is a former chief executive of architect Building Design Partnership, said he had decided to leave Laing O’Rourke because he did not want to get involved in the cultural shift he had helped introduce at the company.

He said: “What it is trying to do with the Radical Innovation Group involves a total cultural change programme.

“Before I joined, the company knew what it wanted to do but needed advice on how to do it. I set up the front end and now it will become more detailed and technical as it is applied to how buildings are actually built.”