There can be no doubt that one of the groups that have been very difficult to reach with the industry reform programme has been that of the SMEs. Since the Latham and Egan reports of the mid 90's this is an area that has been, by and large, missed though not for lack of trying.
We are pleased to say that Constructing Excellence South West Director, Tom Harper, has come up with a project that looks like 'breaking through' in this most important sector. In association with Building Control Officers, he has been running a series of one day work shops in village halls for micro businesses with great effect. It is hoped that this example will be able to be offered countrywide under the auspices of Constructing Excellence and its Regional Partners.
At a recent Constructing Excellence Council Meeting the idea of a 'SME Forum' was given unanimous support, although the title and make-up of such a Forum has still to be agreed. It will act as a voice for SMEs and more importantly have a web site that SMEs may visit for information and advice on subjects such as Health & Safety, Sustainability, Skills and Entrepreneurship. In fact these four subjects will make up a mark of quality known as 'The Essential E' that is currently going through the process of receiving copyright status. A SME may receive 'The Essential E' once they have attended and passed a series of one day workshops on those given subjects.
National Members and FREE CE Club Membership. Have you taken up your allocation of FREE Club membership yet?
The Constructing Excellence Clubs are a forum for individuals to learn about the principles of Best Practice, while creating a culture and local support network of continuous improvement. It offers the opportunity for an informal group of forward thinking, innovative people to learn from each other, share knowledge and ultimately improve their business bottom line.
Each club is managed by a committee made up from the club membership which in turn is made up from various local organisations including SMEs, local authorities, clients, architects, planners and etc. In essence, anyone in the local area involved with the construction industry.
One of the benefits of being a National CE member is that you are entitled to FREE membership at your local CE Club (subject to approval by your organizations key membership contact).
Group members are entitled to 5 FREE individual places and individual forum members are entitled to 3 FREE individual member places (corporate membership is available and will use 2 of your allocated FREE individual memberships).
To take up your free membership, email carl.turner@constructingexcelllence.org.uk stating your company name and which local club you are interesting in joining. Once your request has been authorised by the main membership contact for your organization we will ask the nominated club to make contact with you and invoice CE for the appropriate membership fee. It's as easy as that!
Please mention the FREE CE Club membership to your colleagues as even if you are not interested in joining a local club, they may be!
We look forward in seeing you at a club event soon!
For a full list of the CE Clubs click here.
London 2012 estimate that up to 75,000 supply chain opportunities will be generated by the London 2012 Games.
Constructing Excellence is working with the London Business Network to help our members access these business opportunities through an exciting new online service that has just been launched.
The ground-breaking website, named CompeteFor, is the chosen site of London 2012 for the publication of Games-related contract opportunities. It gives businesses direct access to supply chain opportunities created by the London 2012 Games and business support to help grow your business and competitiveness.
We are pleased to invite you to register your business by visiting www.london2012.com/business and following the link to CompeteFor.
Registering is easy, free and only needs to be done once. You will then be automatically matched with relevant Games-related opportunities that you can apply for.
KPI Launches
The annual launch of the UK's Construction Industry KPIs is your opportunity to find out how the industry is changing. Are projects more predictable? Is client satisfaction improving? Are partnering, off-site fabrication, supply-chain management and continuous improvement making a difference? Is your company lagging behind the industry leaders?
The UK Construction Industry KPIs have become the standard way of benchmarking, and the KPI Launches are your chance to hear the latest report on the construction industry's performance, addresses by keynote speakers, plus time for networking with like-minded industry colleagues.
KPI Launch dates and locations
London - 11th June, 2008
Manchester - 18th June, 2008
Cardiff - 25th June, 2008
East Midlands - 2nd July, 2008
KPI Masterclasses
A series of KPI Masterclasses will be held around the UK following the KPI launches. Each KPI Masterclass provides an introduction to the principles of performance measurement, and the benefits of using the UK Construction Industry KPIs to set up a KPI system to benchmark performance.
A KPI Masterclass is an intensive and interactive course to:
KPI Masterclass dates and locations
London - 16th July, 2008
E Midlands - 2nd October, 2008
North-East - 8th October, 2008
Birmingham - 5th November, 2008
For more information, contact the Events Team on 020 7592 1100
Constructing Excellence is pleased to announce an exciting new initiative to be launched in 2008 - Constructing Insights. The programme of company visits will provide Constructing Excellence members with the opportunity to visit award winning companies across the UK.
The programme is being developed in partnership with Onsite Insights who run a number of best practice programmes across both the UK and internationally.
Visit programmes have demonstrable success in improving profitability and sustainability. They encourage the sharing of best practice and innovation as companies share and discuss real issues and see first hand how improvements can be made and success achieved.
We are currently identifying potential host companies that can demonstrate best practice in a number of areas: lean in construction, leadership, customer service and marketing to name a few.
The benefits of becoming a host include: a recognition of achievements; ability to network and exchange experiences with other like-minded companies; free visits to a wide range of organisations; an opportunity to benchmark; marketing and promotion; and structured feedback from senior managers and directors of other companies.
Bill Munn of Thomas Vale Construction commented on the benefits his organisation has seen: "Being a host company gives us the opportunity to health check our performance against other enlightened companies - companies that are interested in best practice. It also allows us to raise our profile in the national market place in a positive and effective way."
The Initiative will be launched on Thursday 5th June with an open day being held at Thomas Vale in Stourport.
If you are interested in participating as a host company or for more information, please contact Ailsa Kaye of Onsite Insights on:
Phone: 023 9246 8978 or
Email: ailsa@onsiteinsights.co.uk
Construction Marketing Awards - CMA
For four years now Constructing Excellence has associated itself with the Construction Marketing Awards through Don Ward's role as Chair of the judges. The Awards are unique in recognising excellence in marketing and business development in the built environment sector.
They were the original brainchild of EMAP Construct and have been supported from the beginning by CIMCIG - the Chartered Institute of Marketing Construction Industry Group - who are both to be congratulated for their endeavour.
Don Ward took over as Chair of the Judges four years ago, replacing Michael Ankers of the Construction Products Association. During this period we have seen the awards evolve and grow year on year, and seen the entries expand to cover the whole built environment supply chain. They are playing their part in raising the profile of marketing people and their achievements, and demonstrate the essential value of marketing as a strategic discipline which enables firms to position themselves to win and deliver better business. Thanks in no small part to the Awards, we are sure that marketing is becoming better appreciated in the boardrooms of our industry, and this is hugely welcome for our future success.
Don is standing down as Chair of the judges and will be replaced this year by Andrew Carpenter, thus keeping Constructing Excellence's presence at the heart of these Awards.
We are keen that our members are given the opportunity to take part in these prestigious awards and consequently through our MemberLink publication are pleased to issue contact details as below for further information. Good Luck.
Sharon Sugars
Property Events
Tel: 01753 651 177
Mob: 07812 146 149
Web: www.propertyevents.co.uk
Email: Sharon Sugars
Andrew Carpenter
14 December 2009
Please find attcahed a copy of our Committee meeting Minutes from 9 Dec 09
01 December 2009
An investigation into the means to engage specialist contractors and suppliers in the Rethinking Construction/Constructing Excellence agenda.
11 November 2009
Since Sir John Egan's Task Force published its report Rethinking Construction in 1998, there has been some progress, but nowhere near enough. The attached Report sets out to review progress since Rethinking Construction and the principles behind the Egan agenda.
11 November 2009
Attached are a copy of the Committee Meeting minutes 9 Nov 09
15 September 2009
Please find attached the 2009 / 10 events planner to update your diary for forthcoming events.
03 March 2009
New changes to the Asbestos Regulations and the dutyholder. For further information please use the above link or contact Andrew Carpenter andrew.carpenter@abbeyenvironmentalservices.co.uk
19 February 2009
Minutes of Feb 09 Committee Meeting for the Bristol Club
18 February 2009
In Bristol, Constructing Excellence has a research and development group. Somewhat against the grain, in 2006 the group started looking into the question, what value does good design really deliver and to whom?. The r&d group represents many aspects of the industry in line with the aspirations of Constructing Excellence it includes a university client and researcher, architects, QSs and contractors.