<b></b><p></p><p><b><b>Rob Ashmead, the new chief executive of the House Builders Federation, has set tough targets for the organisation. He tells Ben Roskrow how he hopes to make HBF one of the most influential and member-focused trade federations in the country</b></b><br><b>New HBF chief executive Rob Ashmead is not the sort of man to dwell on the difficulties faced by the organisation over the past couple of years. He wants to look forward to what he and his team can now achieve and, despite only being in position for two months, he has already defined a new strategy for HBF for 2002.</b><br><b><b>Changing times</b></b><br> But this strategy can only be put into context against the simple fact that for more than a year HBF has not had a full-time chief executive, and at a time of great change - in the thinking of the government, the attitudes of people and the structure of the industry - there has been a perception of a lack of direction at the federation. Ashmead&amp;’s task is to refocus the organisation and, in his words, realise its obvious potential to be one of the country&amp;’s most influential trade organisations.</p><p>&amp;“The housebuilding world has undergone much change over the past …