We are very excited to announce the Call for Entries for our CE Midlands Awards 2023

Entry forms and Top Tip for how to enter are now available to download from our website with East Midlands forms HERE and West Midlands forms HERE

The Deadline for entries are as follows:

East Midlands – 5^th May 2023

West Midlands 10^th March 2023

All other information regarding the awards are published on our About the Awards sections on our website

East Midlands and West Midlands

 

CITB are looking for 20 supply chain improvement challenges from construction businesses (any size, any location).  Emmanuel Manu, the project lead, would be the presenter (he supported the re-write of the Client Guide for CE Midlands last year).

The support available to the business is free 12-hours consultancy or coaching to develop a solution to their challenge. For example their challenge / issue could be:

• understanding PAS91, pre-qualification procurement questions on tenders
  
• meeting sustainability targets
  
• performance management on site (with their supply chain)
  
• creating or using supply chain intelligence and analytics using business data
  
• supply chain stress testing (financial health, etc)
  
• social value
  

Although I’ve listed some examples, it would be for the business to provide their challenge, and the solution would be designed for them.

For each challenge the business will receive:

• 12-hours consultancy / coaching
  
• become an Innovation Champion
  
• access to 4 x free training modules online or via an App for them and their business
  
• access to The IDP Community Hub (an online community for construction businesses which includes mentoring and resources)
  

Ultimately the innovation challenge and solution need to show a benefit to the business:

• cost saving
  
• time saving
  
• improved opportunities to bid for work
  

 

Katrina Woodward – CITB katrina.woodward@ntu.ac.uk

Strategic Partnership Manager for Construction

Research and Strategic Partnership Development

As we come to the end of another very busy year in CE Midlands circles it is with immense pleasure, I write the final newsletter introduction of the year. With the industry moving back to something like normal, if there is such a thing nowadays, our programme of events and activities has kept the team very busy throughout the year.

I would like to place on record my grateful thanks to Lynn Broughton (admin & finance), Emma Hannan (digital & marketing), Tom Carpenter (events), Emma Broughton (membership) and Philip Jansseune (design) for all going above and beyond to deliver our programme.

The obvious highlights were the West and East Midlands Awards and I’m delighted to say that at the recent national finals we had a total of four winners and one highly commended from across the Midlands which is a record for the region. Details of those winners may be found elsewhere within this newsletter together with details of the 2023 Awards for which we hope we will have an increased entry level as we expand our network. Talking our Awards, it was a pleasure to meet Andy Street recently, Mayor of the West Midlands, to give him his CE West Midlands Achiever of the Year Award as he was unable to join us on the night. You will remember he was chosen for putting the West Midlands ‘on the map,’ for his emphasis on housing & infrastructure and for the inward investment he’s brought to the region and all the opportunities this brings for our sector.

Other highlights have been our housing and construction summits and the leadership dinners held within each of our club locations. Talking of the clubs it is the intention of the board to rationalise the club network and I will be able to communicate the outcome next month following a governance meeting later this month.

I was particularly delighted to hear from each of our Theme Group chairs at the recent construction summit and I would like to place on record my thanks to Noel Street (Climate Crisis), Steve Green (Building Safety), Dhiran Vagdia (Smart Construction) and Dan Bridgewater (Future Skills) for their contribution on the day but more importantly their drive and determination in pushing through the work of their groups throughout the year. Judging from the reaction of the audience we have got it ‘just right’ in terms of priorities when it comes to Theme Group topics. We look forward next year to members and supporters populating these groups in greater numbers as we strive to produce ‘best practice’ collateral in each case.

2022 has been particularly successful in the creation of our G4C movement thanks to the inspirational leadership of Nikita Badesha of RLB. Judging from the quality of the participants we are in good hands when it comes to future leaders, and we look forward to seeing them all at our inaugural G4C Awards in Birmingham on Friday 28th April 2023. In addition thanks to Mark Lyddon and Philip Patterson of Turner Townsend we have seen the establishment of an Infrastructure Forum and we look forward to seeing its influence and actions grow throughout 2023.

We saw the conclusion of the Diploma in Collaboration in Construction pilot project, which I’m pleased to say was highly successful and means we can go again next January. It’s not too late to participate so if you feel a level 5 diploma in collaboration in Construction would prove valuable to you personally and your organisation please visit Diploma-2023-Mids.pdf (cemidlands.org) to sign up.

I would like to thank my chair, Uma Shanker, my Vice Chair, Mark Wakeford, my Company Secretary, Keith Blizzard, my Treasurer, Tom Woodhead and the entire board for their support, knowledge and good humour throughout the year. Following two difficult years, due to Covid, it’s been wonderful to evolve CE Midlands for the benefit of the industry in general and our members in particular. We look forward to building on this success in 2023 as we seek to grow in influence and membership.

Finally, I would like to wish all members and supporters the compliments of the season and hope you all have a fabulous Christmas. To quote from a song I recently performed as Santa Claus in Elf the Musical at the Bristol Hippodrome let’s be Happy all the time!

Constructing Excellence Midlands is a progressive membership organisation that strives to support its members to ‘do things differently’ by driving innovation and best practice within the construction industry.  

The organisation champions collaboration, knowledge sharing and networking by providing a range of learning platforms – including the extensive resources hub on the website. The latest addition is a brand-new Client Advisor Guide (Click here to download) designed to explain the role of a client advisor and how they should behave and operate, ensuring a clear expectation from both sides as to how a relationship will work throughout the duration of a project.  

The concise guide offers advice and information to support professionals from the onset of a project and throughout, providing guidance on best practice and ensuring best results – even when challenges arise.  

Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of Constructing Excellence Midlands, said: “As an organisation, we are passionate about encouraging professionals within the construction  industry to drive change and improvements and our new client advisor guide will help to do just that.  

“It offers a succinct overview of what is expected of an advisor and their role throughout a project, supporting best practice and ultimately driving successful outcomes.” 

The guide can be downloaded from the website HERE. The resources hub offers a one-stop shop for a range of materials aimed at supporting construction professionals to deliver best practice.  

CE Midlands CEO, Andrew Carpenter presented Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, with his 2022 Achiever of the Year Award in this year’s CE West Midlands Awards as he was unable to pick it up on the night.

CE Midlands awarded it to him for the inward investment he has brought into the region, his emphasis on housing & infrastructure and the opportunities he has created for our sector. We will be supporting his drive for growth and net zero targets.

Andy Street was elected as Mayor of the West Midlands in 2017. He grew up in Birmingham and started his career at John Lewis, where he was a graduate trainee. He became Managing Director of John Lewis in 2007 and stayed with the company until 2016.

Andy has worked with local and national government in economic development roles. He was chair of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership between 2011 and 2016.

He has also been lead non-executive director for the Department for Communities and Local Government as well as a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group.

The CE Midlands Awards 2023 are now open for entries

Click HERE for West Midlands Awards and HERE for East Midlands Awards