Construction Summit and Innovation Showcase returns to Ramside Hall

Constructing Excellence in the North East has announced this year’s annual North East England Construction Summit will return to Ramside Hall on 24 November.

It is the largest construction conference in the region and supports the industry’s OneVoice campaign, which aims to build a successful, sustainable and inclusive construction industry. It will focus on the OneVoice action plan’s three key themes – people, value and climate, whilst also exploring innovation in North East England.

The OneVoice action plan is led by the Construction Industry Council North East (CIC), Constructing Excellence in the North East (CENE), Construction Alliance North East (CAN) and Generation for Change (G4C), as a rallying call to the region to become a beacon of best practice.

Faithful+Gould is headline sponsor with four key themed sponsors which link to the OneVoice campaign. They include Tilbury Douglas as people sponsor, Wates Construction as value sponsor, Turner & Townsend as climate sponsor and CoreHaus as innovation sponsor.

The summit also welcomes back its Innovation Showcase and is encouraging companies to demonstrate innovations supporting Climate Action in practice, including products, processes, modern methods of construction and digital solutions.

Speakers include David Mosey PhD, professor of Law and former director of the Centre of Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, Andy Riggs, head of government sector at Wates Group and Kevin Thomas, founding director of IPInitiatives, a company dedicated to improving the performance of the construction industry through the inclusive collaboration of all the constituent parts.

The Construction Playbook, the Gold Standard and the Value Toolkit, will be explored as tools to drive whole life value in construction projects.

Carole O’Neil, managing partner at Cundall is also a confirmed speaker. As former HR and training partner at Cundall, Carole will lead on the people theme drawing upon her time leading the global HR team for Cundall, whilst also sitting on its global management board.

Kathryn Gardner, regional director at Faithful+Gould and headline sponsor of the summit, said: “The summit is a key calendar event and we continue to showcase our support as headline sponsor. It is a day which allows us all to come together, hear from industry leaders, share best practice and learn more about how the region can embrace change and collaborate.”

Tim Bailey, chair at Constructing Excellence in the North East, said: “The summit brings together leaders and decision makers from across the construction sector and the supply chain. We are able to collectively listen to how the industry can positively impact climate emergency, deliver exceptional value for clients and create companies which have a diverse, productive and engaged workforce.

“The Innovation Showcase is always a key highlight and we would encourage organisations to take up exhibition space. It provides an opportunity to highlight to fellow members, construction clients and the supply chain what they can offer.

“We want to bring together forward-thinking clients and the region’s innovators and SMEs, enabling conversations which will only be achieved through collaboration across the industry.

“This was evidenced last year, when WSP leading engineering and professional services consultancy, met Sphera, developer for new materials for the built environment who were exhibiting.

“As a result, Sphera was one of four firms to join WSP’s new Emerging Growth Partnership Programme (EGPP). This provides the opportunity for innovative early growth stage companies to engage in a strategic partnership with WSP. The start-up partnership pairs four pioneering technology and product start-ups companies with technical leaders across WSP’s various business lines to strategically refine products, services and technologies.

“We have seen tangible results from the Innovation Showcase and this should provide SMEs and start-ups with confidence and opportunity to speak to future construction clients, consultants, contractors and the supply chain.”

If you are interested in taking exhibition space, please email [email protected] further details on the event can be found here: https://cene.org.uk/onevoice/summit-2022/