News

Distinguished leaders and innovators from across the construction industry have been announced for this year’s Constructing Excellence Midlands Construction Summit.

Bringing together professionals to discuss prominent issues affecting construction in the Midlands, the event will feature a series of keynote speakers with a wealth of knowledge on the issues impacting supply chains regionally and nationally, notably including talks from Nusrat Ghani MP, construction minister, and Dame Judith Hackitt, chair of Make UK.

The annual summit, organised by industry collaboration organisation Constructing Excellence Midlands, will take place on 18 October at the prestigious Highbury Hall in Birmingham. The event focuses on the four core themes that CE Midlands aims to encourage discourse, knowledge sharing and promote industry collaboration: building safety, climate crisis, future skills and smart construction.

Andrew Carpenter, chief executive of Constructing Excellence Midlands, said: “Our annual summit provides a unique pan-industry opportunity for construction professionals to collectively discuss what issues and emerging trends they are witnessing, as well as to better understand the responsibility that we each have to evolve in our search for best practice.”

Dame Judith Hackitt will be presenting a keynote address on building safety following her illustrious experience in the industry, which included a role as chair of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety. She is most notably known for producing the Hackitt Report – an independent review of building regulations and their impact on fire safety in the wake of the Grenfell tower tragedy, which identified the current system to not be fit for purpose and the industry needing a culture change.

Dame Judith said: “Six years on from the terrible tragedy of Grenfell Tower the drive for excellence in the built environment remains front and centre. Providing homes and other spaces for people to live in, work in and experience must, first and foremost, be safe.

“We must make this the bedrock of the industry culture at the same time as we face all of the other challenges, including economic uncertainty, adaptation to climate change and innovation.”

Climate crisis will also take centre stage at the event, with a panel of speakers giving their insight on sustainable construction practices and innovative solutions for a greener future. Discussions will then turn to smart construction to showcase how digitalization, automation, and data-driven approaches are revolutionizing how organisations design, build, and manage projects.

Andrew Carpenter added: “Alongside Judith and Nusrat we have an incredible lineup of speakers providing their insight on the core themes that CE Midlands promotes best practice

and collaboration for. We look forward to welcoming construction professionals from across the Midlands construction industry to a thought-provoking day.”

For more information and to register to attend the CE Midlands Summit click here. The full agenda for the event is as follows:

· 8.30am – Registration & Networking

· 9.30am – Welcome: Uma Shanker, Chair CE Midlands

· 9.40am – Keynote Address: Nusrat Ghani MP, Minister of State at the Department for Business & Trade

· 10.00am – Building Safety:

– Keynote Address: Dame Judith Hackitt

– An insurance perspective: Gallagher (speaker to be announced)

– Panel session with Dame Judith Hackitt and Gallagher speaker

· 11.00am – Tea/Coffee & Networking

· 11.30am – Climate Crisis:

– Disruptive Sustainability: Georgia Elliott-Smith, Element 4

– Re-purposing buildings: Stuart Smith, Morgan Sindall

– Timber in Construction: David Hopkins, Timber Development UK TBC

– Future Homes Standard: David Adams, Future Homes Hub

– Panel session with Georgia Elliott-Smith, Stuart Smith, David Hopkins and David Adams

· 1.15pm – Lunch & Networking

· 2.15pm – Future Skills:

– Future needs: Wendy Osborn, engagement director for England, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)

– A Midlands perspective: Marina Robertson, managing director at Acivico TBC

– Panel: Wendy Osborn & Marina Robertson

· 3.05pm – Smart Construction:

– Business benefits of offsite construction: Gaynor Tennent, Offsite Alliance

– An update from Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC): speaker to be announced.

– Panel: Gaynor Tennant & MTC speaker

· 3.55pm – 4.00pm – Final Thoughts: Uma Shanker

Constructing Excellence Midlands is offering space on the day to exhibit at £250 + VAT. Interested parties can contact tom.carpenter@cemidlands.org.