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President's Column June 2020
12 Jun 2020
The lockdown is starting to be relaxed and although things won't be back to normal any time soon, a lot of construction sites are open (with the exception of some in Scotland) and most steelwork contractors are working. We all look forward to more restrictions being lifted over the summer, but I worry that The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has warned of a 'severe recession, the likes of which we haven't seen' and some commentators talk about 10% unemployment not just for the short term but for up to...
President's Column May 2020
15 May 2020
We're all acclimatising ourselves to new ways of working. For most steelwork contractors the restrictions have resulted in home working and social distancing in factories and offices, where being organised and planning work around the social distancing requirements is paramount. There were some mixed messages at the start of the lockdown, but this was a temporary measure to introduce better health and safety measures and the majority of sites in England and Wales are now open. The social...
President's Column April 2020
15 Apr 2020
The world is facing unprecedented times. The effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the health and wellbeing of the nation is still uncertain. Each day the number of people infected, and the number of deaths increases. We are also getting more stringent information on social distancing; pubs restaurants, clubs etc have been closed as have some parks and public spaces. We can only go outside for food, health reasons or work - but only if we cannot work from home. Further restrictive...
President's Column March 2020
13 Mar 2020
Sorry to start on a gloomy note, but I'm dismayed to read on a regular basis that main and specialistcontractors are going under or in difficulty. These are long-standing companies whose expertise and skills are a great loss to the construction sector, at a time when skill shortages are becoming more obvious and when we need to attract a new and more diverse set of people into the industry. This mirrors the economic uncertainty and challenges of recent times with a softening in activity and...
President's Column February 2020
14 Feb 2020
There's little doubt that climate change and sustainability are gaining momentum in our domestic lives as well as in industry. Greta Thurnberg argues that humanity is facing an existence crisis and that climate change is fast becoming the number one issue for the world. Perhaps the scale of the fires in Australia has shown us this in some wayThis shift in emphasis towards carbon reduction has put it in the spotlight for us all. As it's not going away anytime soon, we'll also be under this...
President's Column January 2020
07 Jan 2020
The adage cash is king is never more real, cashflow is the life blood for any company. Recent developments with late payments, retentions and increases in the cost of Professional Indemnity insurance coupled with the proposals from government to impose reverse VAT on parts of the construction industry are stretching some companies to breaking point.Many steelwork contractors are suffering from the doubling and trebling of PI insurance premiums. Insurance companies that are willing to offer...
President's Column November/December 2019
22 Nov 2019
What's going on in the construction sector at the moment? On one hand, we have the statistics implying its all doom and gloom, and on the other hand, many of my customers are saying they've never been busier. How do we reconcile these conflicting sentiments, and what do they mean for us all?The IHS Markit / CIPS UK Construction PMI has been in the doldrums for months, sitting well below the 50 break even point. Their latest data release for October was 44.2, following on from September's weak...
Build UK launch new website
18 Nov 2019
Build UK have launched a new website that aims to help businesses prepare for Brexit by summarising the latest available information.To visit the new website please click the link below. Brexit Build UK Website
BCSA releases new Historic Steelwork Publication
18 Nov 2019
With many cast iron, wrought iron and early steel structures still in use today, it is essential that engineers have access to practical information on the types of material, their properties and the section sizes used, should such structures require repairs, alterations or strengthening for a change of use.Originally published in 1984, BCSA's Historical Structural Steelwork Handbook has been one of the books to go to for those tasked with inspecting, investigating and assessing historical...
BCSA supports NCE Future of Bridges conference
23 Oct 2019
BCSA is supporting New Civil Engineer's (NCE) two-day Future of Bridges conference and is able to provide 15% discount to BCSA members.To book your place please visit the Future of Bridges booking page and enter the discount code BCSA15 when you checkout.The event, which will be held at the America Square Conference Centre in the City of London on the 25th and 26th November, and will showcase a number of inspiring projects from around the world, and address some sobering lessons from...