The Chartered Institute of Building has called on Government to recognise the major role that construction will have in leading the UK out of recession and to provide the support required for the industry.
Speaking at the CIOB Members Forum in Leeds, Chris Blythe Chief Executive at the CIOB raised concerns that the Government was favouring other industries over the built environment, which has traditionally and still remains the power house of the UK economy.
“We know that Government has pledged £3 billion to the aerospace industry which is laudable but at the same time we are seeing huge losses in the construction workforce with a fall of 65,000 construction personnel between September 2011 and September 2012. As an industry we need to be looking at new ways that we can work with the Government to build the foundations for competitiveness, investment and growth,” said Mr Blythe. “With the right kind of support for our industry I believe the UK economy could have grown up to three times faster in recent years.”
In order to provide a platform for influencing government and shaping construction policy for the future, the CIOB has launched a new conference called Talk Construction which will be held for the first time at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster on November 25 and 26.
The UK Contractors Group are official supporters of this new CIOB initiative and will also be instrumental in helping to create an industry ‘pact’ that will consult with Government in order to achieve benefits for the industry as a whole.
The conference will spotlight what needs to happen to drive recovery in the construction industry as well as defining key issues such as the finance and investment, leadership skills gaps and the latest developments such as Building Information Modelling (BIM).
Designed for an audience of senior professionals and board members , the CIOB are expecting to see over 500 delegates attend the conference in 2013 to form a basis for a larger conference and associated exhibition of leading suppliers in 2014.
The event will be the first of its kind in the sector. It will be research-led rather than profit based, with profits ploughed back directly to the industry to stimulate growth, training and best practice.
