Reading back at previous introductions by our club chairs there is a definite theme regarding time and how quickly the year passes. After what has been a busy summer I’m sure the last few months of the year will fly by. It’s always a good time to sit back and reflect.
In Gloucestershire we’ve just hosted our annual conference which as well attended by local members and guests. It’s testament to the dedication of all our committee members that we can put on these events and offer a varied programme for our members to attend.
At this year’s conference we tackled 3 subjects across panel discussions including the change in Government and what this means for the industry, early contractor engagement and social value. All hot topics which resulted in very engaging discussions with our panel of experts and guests. It was endearing to see that everyone wants to interact and bring their own views insights to share across the industry.
In general across the south-west we do compare favourably with the rest of the UK. There are several key construction projects underway showcasing a variety of infrastructure, commercial, and residential developments. Including the Bath Quays North Development and the Portishead to Bristol Rail link.
Hopefully a sign of things to come with a new government and a renewed focus on addressing the urgent challenges facing the country, particularly in housing, infrastructure, planning reform and climate change. We will all have a great focus on what changes will come over the coming months and years.
More locally in Gloucestershire, we have a number of large construction projects in the pipeline including the Golden Valley Development in Cheltenham, where around £1 billion is being invested into what will be the UK’s cyber capital to include a cyber-tech park, innovation hub, new homes and schools with ambitious plans to create 12,000 new jobs.
Other notable developments include the £100+ million development of the Kings Quarter in Gloucester. Within this is The Forum which is nearing completion and will consist of 40+ apartments, a four star hotel, new multi-storey car park and numerous retail opportunities.
The University of Gloucestershire’s City Campus is nearing completion following a £200 million investment in redeveloping the former Debenhams building to create a new state of the art campus for new students and revitalising the city centre.
The Arle Court Transport Hub has recently opened in Cheltenham as well as a new Construction Skills Centre with Gloucestershire College which is aiming to help bridge the skills shortage, which needs addressing both locally and nationally.
Also, it has been over a year now since we announced the launch of the Construction Industry Collaboration Initiative with Leaders Meet, CESW and the Gloucestershire Club.
In that time and in partnership with Gloucestershire College we secured funding from central government to run a Construction leadership training course. This commenced in the springtime with a full cohort representing all parts of the construction.
The aim of the course is an introduction to ‘Leadership for Collaborative Working’ seeking to help participants to understand, appreciate, develop, practice and apply some of the key behavioural factors that underpin the effective leadership. Helping those key people seeking to work more collaboratively both within and between organisations in the Construction Sector.
Having taken part in the course myself, it’s proved to be very popular with a second cohort commencing this month. Hopefully, we will run future courses across the south-west… so watch this space.
On the whole, we remain busy and focused on the year to come. I do look forward to the series of events planned across all regions.
