InsideOut Issue 2

InsideOut 24 JULY 2009

The Builders’ Conference Trade Association

WELCOME TO THE SECOND EDITION OF INSIDEOUT, THE ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER OF THE BUILDERS’ CONFERENCE

All the President’s Men The recent Annual General Meeting of The Builders’ Conference saw the official appointment of a new President and Vice President.

IN THIS ISSUE All the President’s Men

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New Council Members

The Builders Conference AGM 2 Message from the Pesident

A Day at the Races

The Builders’ Conference annual general meeting, the bestattended in recent years, marked the inauguration of a new President and Vice-President, and the election of several new council members.

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The Cheltenham Gold Cup

Changing Faces

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Helping to deliver value for money to members

Campaign to end the Pre-qualication questionnaire 5 Business Continuity

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Andy Richardson of Lengard Ltd, Acting-President for the past year, was officially named President of The Builders’ Conference, while Owen Chadd of Buxton Building Contractors became Vice-President.

Avoiding disasters

Diabetes UK

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IBC Fundraising

PETITION AGAINST

PQQ’S

www.nomorepqq.co.uk

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BUILDER’S PROFILE

IT’S BIG AND IT’S CLEVER www.buildersprofile.co.uk

Pre-Contract Cost Consultants’ David King was elected to the Council while Alan Hamer (Estimal) and Tony Francis (Project Aluminium) were re-elected.

Further news from The Builders’ Conference AGM can be found on Page 2.

(Above) New President Andy Richardson (Left) Vice-President Owen Chadd

A Superb Turnout

Message from the President

The construction industry might be in the doldrums, but that didn’t stop The Builders’ Conference Annual General Meeting from achieving its largest-ever attendance.

The following is an extract of the message from the president contained within The Builders’ Conference annual report and accounts.

In many ways, the odds were against the latest Annual General Meeting of The Builders’ Conference being a success. It was being held at a new and untried venue – The New Connaught Rooms – and, let’s face it, the building and construction industry is hardly in the mood for good natured get-togethers at present.

And yet, against that background, this year’s AGM proved to be the best-attended in the organisation’s history. More than 150 people crammed into the palatial dining room to hear HSBC chief economist Dennis Turner give a highly entertaining and thought-provoking speech on the state of the UK economy. For anyone that missed it, an audio file of his speech can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/ldoges.

Even before Turner got to his feet, the preluncheon business meeting had attracted a record attendance with more than 30 people welcoming the official new President Andy Richardson of Lengard Ltd and his new Vice President, the unfortunately absent Owen Chadd of Buxton Building Contractors. For those that couldn’t attend this portion of the AGM, please click here to view a video of the proceedings: http://tinyurl.com/nsg9eq.

This video also contains the after-luncheon speech given by The Builders’ Conference Chief Executive, Neil Edwards, which details some of the highlights of the organisation’s many activities. Furthermore, extracts of the “Message from the President” given by Andy Richardson can be found opposite. In typical fashion, The Builders’ Conference, together with Fastracktenders.com, took the opportunity to raise some charitable funds for Diabetes UK. Thanks to Fastracktenders.com’s kind donation of several highly sought-after prizes including a TomTom sat-nav system and an iPod Touch, The Builders’ Conference raffle raised £1,000.

A record attendance in the midst of an economic recession that is impacting on us all is quite an achievement, and was due in no small part to the work of The Builders’ Conference’s Lisa Smith and her team who worked tirelessly to make the event such a huge success.

As we are all painfully aware, we find ourselves inhabiting a radically changed economic and industrial landscape. The global banking system is in turmoil, a trend that numerous costly stimulus packages have summarily failed to avert. The impact of this has been a near collapse of house-building and front line construction activity here in the UK, one that has forced us all to seek lifeboats of cost cutting and diversification to brave the stormy seas of downturn and recession.

Recession is tough on all industries. But here within the building and construction sector, where we have a strong tradition of family-owned businesses and long-term supplier/client relationships, the recessionary effect is even more polarized and painful. But while the events of recent months will have tempered the enthusiasm of even the most ardent optimist, it is important to note that there is not a total absence of good news. Work-wise, public sector contracts continue to be let and while margins might not be of the magnitude to which we have all grown accustomed, they do keep men and machines working and, for many of us, offer a welcome haven of activity and timely diversification.

Closer to home, the need to cut costs and seek efficiencies has had a positive impact upon the use and acceptance of our Builder’s Profile alternative to the loathsome Pre-Qualification Questionnaire scheme and I am expecting to be able to make some major announcements about this in the very near future.

It is also pleasing to report that membership of The Builders’ Conference continues to grow, despite the fact that some of our members have sadly fallen victim to the recession. As an organisation, we have one simple aim and that is to deliver value to our members. At a time when we’re all forced to focus on our respective bottom lines, our not-for-profit philosophy and constant striving for new services is probably more valued than at any time before.

Most of all, The Builders’ Conference is a rare and welcome opportunity for our industry to show a united front in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds; a forum through which likeminded individuals can share their hopes, fears and aspirations.There can be little doubt that the challenges facing the UK economy are far from over. Even the most optimistic forecasts predict a further 12 to 18 months of recession and downturn. However, what is certain is that together we are stronger. And, against this backdrop of unity, The Builders’ Conference will continue to provide the means for its members to achieve the efficiencies and innovations required to survive and thrive in such a difficult period.

Andy Richardson - President The Builders’ Conference

A Day at the Races

The Builders’ Conference recently hosted a day at the races for VIP guests and council members.

The construction industry loves a flutter, a fact that is highlighted by the unofficial shutdown that coincides with the Cheltenham Gold Cup that occurs on sites across the country each year.

So when The Builders’ Conference invited council members and VIP guests to a day at Lingfield races, it was assured of a good turnout.

You can see more on page 3.Guests gathered in a VIP box overlooking the finish line and were first treated to an insider’s guide to the runners and riders by a knowledgeable bookmaker.

Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that most guests had failed to take notes as torn betting slips began to pile up on the buffet table.

At one point, only newly-elected President Andy Richardson and event organiser Lisa Smith of The Builders’ Conference had picked consecutive winners, a fact that surely smacked of inside knowledge!

However, as the last of the horses crossed the finish line in the final race, all agreed that the event had been a huge success, even if many were left holding more wasted betting slips than five pound notes.

The Builders' Conference team, members and VIP guests enjoyed a fantastic day's entertainment at the famous Lingfield race course.

Changing Faces

New appointments underline The Builders’ Conference’s commitment to delivering an ever-improving level of service and value for its members.

In these difficult economic times, it is sadly not unusual to report upon individuals leaving companies. But while The Builders’ Conference had to say a fond goodbye to researcher Paul Dean and review clerk Michelle Muir recently after 14 and 4.5 years of service respectively, it has moved to replace them quickly as part of an ongoing expansion designed to improve service and add value to members.

Sophie Taylor

First of the new arrivals is Sophie Taylor, (above right) who replaces Michelle Muir. Sophie is an A-level school leaver and the daughter of one of the business partners at H&T Piling, a member of The Builders’ Conference. Sophie is also based in Sutton.

Also joining the team, in the new position of part-time publications researcher, is back-to-work mum Millie Monte.

“The fact that we are taking on new members of staff in the midst of a recession reflects a significant growth in demand for our tender leads and market intelligence,” concludes Chief Executive Neil Edwards. “And it speaks volumes for our commitment to continually deliver improved levels of service and value to our members.”

Researcher – Starting at £19K Due to an increase in our data collection we are seeking a researcher to join our highly successful team at our Sutton office.

Reporting to the General Manager and the key responsibilities will be to manage construction market information and input onto our database.

We wish to offer this opportunity to member companies first who may be re-organising their businesses in this current climate.

Please send your CV to the Chief Executives PA Lisa Smith either via e-mail lisa.smith@buildersconf.co.uk or hard copy The Builders’ Conference, Crest House, 19 Lewis Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 4BR. Closing Date is 31st August 2009.

If you require any additional information then please call 0208-770-0111 (No Agencies)

Millie Monte

Higher Profile for PQQs

Our campaign to replace the costly, tiresome and much derided prequalification system with something more efficient is gathering pace.

Anyone that saw the first edition of the InsideOut magazine will recall that we featured heavily our support for The Builder’s Profile, a costeffective and efficient alternative to the hated pre-qualification questionnaire system that currently costs the UK construction industry an estimated £250 million in lost man hours. Well, since that article appeared just a few short months ago, things have moved on apace, with major contractors and trade organisations signing up to our alternative scheme.

First, the National Specialist Contractors’ Council (NSCC) announced its support for The Builder’s Profile to provide a green, paperless way for companies to exchange common pre-qualification information.

“After poor payment practices, the most frustrating issue for Specialist Contractors is completing numerous pre-qualification questionnaires which wastes valuable resources that could be used to improve business performance,” says NSCC chief executive Suzannah Nichol.

“Over 85 percent of the questions are not job specific and the fact that they are duplicated by each contractor and client means that NSCC members can find themselves filling in over 100 of these forms each year. We have an opportunity to bring together the many prequalification questionnaires within the industry with the completion of one core business profile providing the most commonly requested information.”

“We are delighted to have the NSCC on board and with the support and drive that Suzannah Nichol has brought to this campaign,” says The Builders’ Conference chief executive Neil Edwards. “Overnight, our links with the NSCC has given us access to around 7,500 specialist subcontractors, all of whom are tired of the current PQQ system.”

Not content with signing up the support of the NSCC, Edwards reports that The Builder’s Profile has achieved a similar level of support with some of the UK’s best known major contractors, with both Kier and Osborne signing up to the scheme.

Furthermore, both Edwards and Nichol have recently attended a meeting with yet another major UK trade association, and both are hopeful of further positive news in the very near future.

“From the outset, our plan was to address the issue of PQQs from the bottom up, creating a groundswell of support from subcontractors and hoping that major contractors would recognise the potential benefits of The Builder’s Profile alternative,” Edwards concludes. “With the NSCC now on board, we have achieved that. And now that both Kier and Osborne have said that they’re happy to receive PQQ information via The Builder’s Profile, we’re well on our way to becoming the new industry standard.”

To show your support, please sign our petition at www.nomorepqq.co.uk

Suzannah Nichol

Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery

Welcome to New Members Despite the current economic downturn (or possibly because of it), The Builders’ Conference has continued to welcome new members over recent weeks.

We would, therefore, like to take the opportunity to welcome the following:

How do you protect your business from the loss of data? The threats to your business are sometimes overstated but by having a plan and a solution in place you at least have an option when it all goes horribly wrong.

More often than not, this can be completely outside of your control such as the buncefield disaster which closed many businesses on the same business park, yet who had no idea of the potential disaster about to hit them through no fault of their own.

The companies with plans in place survived but a large majority did not.

Whether you are a home user, small business user or large business, plans and backup matter.

As a very basic requirement, we ensure all our clients have a backup of some description in place. Whether this is a USB drive on the back of a server, a tape backup or an internet backup there is a solution for everyone that is cost effective.

Tape backup is a tried and tested solution, with the tapes offsited or stored in a fireproof safe on site it always been a sturdy benchmark for backup.

However with the loss of data such as by HMRC, encryption is now also becoming a fundamental requirement in the event any data backed up gets into the wrong hands. The current biggest threat to your companies security is not from outside hackers it’s internal. This means that data needs to be evaluated, secured, backed up securely and more importantly any person offering to store it – trustworthy.

Trust comes through business relationships. If someone walked into your office and said “i can take all your financial details, all your client details and contract information and store it for just £50 a month” would you entrust your most precious information for such a small price?

That is not to say that the price is cheap, because as the price of hardware falls it makes offsite internet backup much more viable and more importantly gives small companies peace of mind that was only available to larger companies with large IT budgets just a few years ago.

So whichever route you decide do a thorough review of your data and above all have a plan which then leads to a solution fit for you that may well be required sooner than you think or could have imagined. Above all – test it...Regularly Daniel Piggott, Director (M 07971 020798) Switch2IT Ltd - A complete IT service www.switch2IT.co.uk Studio 8, Design House, Guildford Road, Bookham, KT23 4HB

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The Builders’ Conference and Fastracktenders.com Donates to Diabetes UK

Online Response

The Builders’ Conference Trade Association

Regular users of The Builders’ Conference website will have noticed a few subtle but important changes in recent weeks.

The Builders’ Conference has made a significant donation to the charity Diabetes UK following an auction at the Trade Association and market intelligence provider’s Annual General Meeting.

The Builders’ Conference Chief Executive Neil Edwards and association member Terry Gannon of Fastracktenders.com have met with Diabetes UK partnerships manager Anna Chan to hand over a cheque for £1,000 raised at The Builders’ Conference’s recent Annual General Meeting.

“Fastracktenders.com very kindly sponsored a number of really desirable auction prizes for our AGM including an iPod Touch and a TomTom satellite navigation system,” explains Neil Edwards. “We raised £959 on the day and The Builders’ Conference rounded that up to £1,000 to give to the charity of Terry Gannon’s choosing.”

Terry Gannon takes up the story. “My son has diabetes and I know from personal experience the excellent work that Diabetes UK does for people with diabetes across the country,” he says. “I was delighted to be able to give a little back to a charity that is at the forefront of trying to find a cure for a condition that can affect young and old, and was pleased that The Builders’ Conference supported us in the way they did. We look forward to sponsoring similar events in the near future.

“We would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to The Builders’ Conference and Fastracktenders.com for their generous donation. There are 2.5 million people with diabetes in the UK, including 20,000 children and young people under 15,” says Diabetes UK partnership manager Anna Chan.

“The money raised will help us to continue our vital work funding research, campaigning and helping people live with diabetes.”

Diabetes UK is the leading charity for the three million people in the UK with diabetes, funding research, campaigning and helping people living with the condition. Our mission is to improve the lives of people with diabetes and work towards a future without diabetes. For more information visit www.diabetes.org.uk.

As part of its ongoing mission to offer increased value to members, The Builders’ Conference has made some important additions and changes to its rapidly expanding website www.buildersconference.co.uk.

New features include • Multi Category/multi region tender search facility • Selective tender search facility • Tag search available to all users across an account • Search results can now be displayed as 10, 20, 30 or 50 items per page “These new website developments are a direct result of feedback from members,” concludes The Builders’ Conference chief executive, Neil Edwards. “And we’re currently working on a new facility that will allow members to export files directly into their own systems,” If you have any ideas on further potential enhancements to the website, please email them to: Neil.Edwards@buildersconf.co.uk

The Builders’ Conference Christmas Luncheon 2009

The Ballroom Dorchester Hotel Park Lane London W1K 1QA Tuesday 8th December 2009 12.15 pm for 1.00 pm lunch The Builders’ Conference would like to extend a warm welcome to all our members and their guests, to join us for a traditional Christmas luncheon at the Dorcester The relaxed and opulent atmosphere of one of the world’s most famous hotels will guarantee this will be an event not to be missed The Christmas event will feature a free pre-lunch bar and wine on the table The cost of a ticket is just £90.00 per person with tables of 12 available at the discounted cost of 10 persons, ie just £900.00 Our Guest speaker this year is Gavin Hastings the Scottish rugby player who recently covered the British Lions tour of South Africa for Sky Sports For bookings call 020 8770 0111 or complete the attached booking form.

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                               

 

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 



  

                                                                                        

 

           

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  

     

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      





   

   

           

     



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                                

   

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                                                                       