Sir Joe is a chartered civil engineer and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is stepping down after nine years of chairing Liverpool Vision, the country's first urban regeneration company. He has been a director, then group chief executive and finally group chairman of George Wimpey plc. He was chair of the British contractors within Transmanche Link. He is a former president of the Chartered Institution of Building and the Institution of Civil Engineers, and is currently a governor of the Liverpool John Moores University.