News analysis with BESA Call for action on training funds


BESA President Tim Hopkinson has called for the government to urgently release funding for vocational training providers to help boost falling productivity


Guest speaker Steph McGovern from BBC


Breakfast News echoed Mr Hopkinson’s call for greater focus on encouraging young people to opt for engineering careers. She said schools should do more to highlight the opportunities in apprenticeships and provide better information about what engineers contribute to society. She also urged businesses to make sure the


uncertainty created by Brexit did not “stifle them” and said the most successful companies would be those that just “got on with business”. In engineering particularly, she said she expected that “disruptive technologies” would be the main driver for the future and these would render Brexit largely irrelevant.


Successful BESA president Tim Hopkinson


release funding to training providers who can change the way courses are delivered and boost the number of young people coming into engineering professions. Mr Hopkinson urged the Government to clear up the “difficult and confusing process for training and education”.


H “Much needs to be done to improve this, and


quickly,” he said, adding that young engineers had the skills, tools and character to improve the industry’s productivity – a topic that the Chancellor Phillip Hammond has made a top priority for this Parliament.


e used the occasion of the annual BESA President’s Lunch at the Leadenhall Building in the City of London to urge the Government to


Ms McGovern agreed with Mr Hopkinson that the building engineering services sector was playing a key role by making building and infrastructure projects successful and sustainable. However, the President said the sector still suffered from a low profile, which deprived it of its fair share of the “best and brightest”. “We must encourage role models and get them to speak out about why they are prospering in building engineering services and why they were drawn to the industry in the first place,” he added. Mr Hopkinson said that one of the biggest challenges facing construction as a whole was attracting the right level of investment to make projects successful. This is, in part, down to its poor


productivity, which means many projects come in behind schedule and over budget. As a result, potential investors see the sector as


too risky and are reluctant to commit funds to projects, he said, adding that the tender process was often driven by “the price of winning work and not by the cost of delivering it”. He also criticised the sector’s “woeful” record on collaboration. “Construction projects combine many trades and


many companies so when we fail to work properly in teams it leads to delays and quality issues. This in turn drives up costs and, as a result, it takes longer for clients to recoup their investment”. He called for a “culture change” driven by a new


generation of engineers adding that, despite the continual push to drive down upfront prices and to ‘value engineer’ designs to strip out costs, construction could be “notoriously unprofitable”. “A number of large Tier One contractors have


recently gone public about the fact that the margins they make are not sustainable,” said Mr Hopkinson. “They say that, unless firms can get their margins up above 5%, the whole future of the industry is at stake. “Without cost certainty investors are bound to


remain hesitant and, with Brexit adding a further element of doubt to the equation, we are potentially facing a difficult period. It is essential that the Government resolves its differences with the EU as quickly as possible.” However, he identified three reasons why the building engineering services sector could face the future with confidence: It has never been more important to the wider UK economy; it is a great


ark Farmer, who led last year’s hard hitting review of construction’s labour and financial woes, will deliver a keynote address at the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) National Conference in London on October 19. He is joined on the speakers’ rostrum by the BBC’s ‘Business Doctor’ Dr Paul T Thomas and the deputy Mayor of London Shirley Rodrigues, who will debate important changes to the capital’s planning laws and environmental strategy. The full day event at the four-star Park Plaza


HEADLINE SPEAKER FOR BESA EVENT REVEALED M


conditioning and heat pumps. Leading authorities on mental health, diversity and training funding will also address the conference and offer practical support. Mr Farmer pulled no punches in his review, which


Riverbank Hotel will focus heavily on how companies in the building engineering sector can achieve technical compliance and business efficiency to meet the many commercial challenges they now face. The conference will also have a strong technical content with streams covering: Indoor Air Quality (IAQ); District Heating; and Refrigeration, air


he carried out on behalf of the Construction Leadership Council. In it, he established that many of the industry’s problems could be traced to poor profitability that, in turn, starve employers of investment in skills and innovation. The BESA conference will be a rare opportunity to discuss the report’s findings with its author and establish how the building engineering sector is responding by developing new models to manage projects more effectively – including the wider use of digital processes. The technical sessions will consider how buildings can be turned into ‘safe havens’ from rising air pollution and how to make district heating


schemes more efficient. They will also look at the likely impact on the refrigeration and air conditioning sector of the growing popularity of heat pumps and a rapid shift in the use of refrigerant gases as a result of the F Gas phase down of HFCs. There will also be a series of seminars led by the Association’s commercial and legal team offering tailored advice on day-to-day contractual issues, late payment and staff engagement. As well as the busy conference programme, there will be an exhibition of innovative products and services drawn from across the industry. The event will conclude with a black tie awards dinner celebrating the best of the sector’s national apprenticeship talent and announcing BESA’s annual management and Contractor of the Year awards. For more information and to register for the BESA National Conference and Awards go to:


14 October 2017


www.heatingandventilating.net


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56