Presidential Inaugural Address
My lords, your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, fellow members, friends and family:
I am delighted to see you all; thank you for taking the time to attend and share in my inauguration.
I am very proud to have been elected as President of the Association of Building Engineers and will work diligently to do justice to that honour.
I would like to thank the Association's Executive Team, particularly Katie, for arranging my inauguration here at Canary Wharf, which is something like my second home - I have been professionally associated with the development since the 1980s.
Rhys Taylor pledged at his inauguration to meet and speak with as many members as possible during his presidential year. He was most successful. On behalf of all our members, I would like to thank Rhys and publicly recognise the time and effort he has devoted - it has not gone unnoticed and was very much appreciated. Rhys has been at the forefront of embracing and developing the active regional structure inherited from our coming together with the Institute of Maintenance and Building Management (IMBM). The coming together with IMBM has been very successful and proven to be of great benefit to all members - wider knowledge has been gained together with the pleasure and benefit of working with individuals who are similarly professional and progressive in their outlook.
I echo the need to reinforce and further develop the connection with all members and with the support of the Vice-Presidents, Simon Lawes, Colin Bell, and Vice-President-Elect, John Humphries, will endeavour to achieve this; working with the continuing support of headquarters and the Honorary Officers. Our aim is to deliver to members within their regions wherever possible focusing on convenience - time and cost efficiency.
I am not the only 'new' incumbent this May. David Smith takes over from Pat Reddin as Honorary Secretary and I would like to thank Pat for all his dedicated hard work over the years. Both Pat and David are Past Presidents and, therefore, able to advise (dare I say sympathise) on occasions.
Like all Presidents I will need to lean on our team at headquarters and am confident that Chief Executive, David Gibson, and all his team will reinforce the strategic aims and objectives of the Association.
Arwel Griffith, our Honorary Treasurer, also a Past President, has the particularly invidious task in the coming year, as will all treasurers, of maintaining financial prudence as the Association moves forward on existing and new initiatives.
It is also a fact that there are three other recruitments during my term of office - my husband Ian, a building surveyor, who some of you know, and my sons, James and Nicholas, all of whom I know I can rely on to support me.
The Presidential Team is committed to the way ahead and has completed a review of its strategic plan which will be presented to Council at its next meeting for consideration.
Following agreement of the strategic plan I will look forward to advancing the aims of the Association during my year of office using as much or as little persuasion as necessary to gain the results (beware, all packages carry a health warning!).
The Association as part of its response to members has published its statement on climate change and sustainability and last year I had the pleasure of receiving, with David Gibson and John Humphries, our membership of the Society for the Environment allowing us to accredit our members with the Chartered Environmentalist qualification.
Rhys has had a very busy year travelling the length of the country and abroad - Europe and Hong Kong. He wanted to and has given 'his all' back to the Association and despite, as he puts it, being past 'it' as Immediate Past President he need not think our need of him - my need of him - has passed.
Whilst a President is beavering away there is always someone trying to maintain a sense of normality at home, in the workplace and offering support - unfailingly Rhys' wife Anne has done this with grace and humility. I would like to show our appreciation of Anne's support and participation over the last year by presenting her with a bouquet.
My connection with the Association of Building Engineers is long. I have seen the Association develop into an internationally recognised body. Some of you may not know that the ABE produces an international news journal via our web-site, and it is well worth a visit; it's full of news.
Our members and their varied specialisms provided within the membership of the Association, and their practical application and willingness to work with others has created an environment where our opinion and participation is sought and we continue to respond - we do deliver.
No one is immune from the current economic downturn and we are all uncertain as to what the future will bring. If history repeats itself, and it normally does, there will be an upturn. Indeed, over the last few weeks 'green shoots' have been mentioned. We must all be ready for that upturn.
Following its phoenix-like resurgence from recession the last time, the industry was unable to service the building boom from within the UK and had to seek skills from Europe and beyond. This was two-way traffic and many were able to gain from working overseas.
In the coming year I will take the opportunity to highlight the need for structured training within the industry. It has long been lamented that whilst we can produce highly qualified students (at all levels) we are not producing people with practical skills.
Very few companies, government bodies, and the like have structured training programmes in any discipline and many currently lack the funds to allow training schemes and apprenticeships to be completed - a fact highlighted recently in building magazine when they reviewed the effects of the recent budget on the industry. It is rumoured that polytechnics will be resurrected because of the lack of vocational training.
The ABE is more prepared than most as it is a major training provider and recognised as being an excellent external provider. A glance at our publications will illustrate this with details of:
- CPD and lifelong learning guidance and courses, including technical tours of the Olympic village
- NVQs, VRQs and other qualifications
- Details of our Annual Conference in Norwich in November - concentrating on technology, materials and research
- Details of our degrees in building engineering, building control and fire safety
- Our regional activities - seminars on asbestos safety, flood prevention and repairs, fire safety, accessibility, masonry repairs, sustainability, geotechnics
- Also our ever-increasing number of training affiliates.
The Association is its members; and the breadth of members' skills means that we are not insular. Thankfully, the majority of us continue to work - indeed our membership at this time continues to grow.
On that high note I will stop.
Please take the opportunity to visit other parts of Canary Wharf and enjoy its spectacular built environment.Thank you