Clearview National January 2019 - Issue 206 | Page 14

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The ‘Future of Construction’ is
bright, according to flagship event
» » CONFIRMING ITS POSITION AS THE
largest event for the UK construction industry,
a record-breaking 34,000 industry professionals
attended this year’s UK Construction Week
(UKCW). Built environment professionals
from all parts of the industry came for new
ideas and innovation, eager to explore new ways
of working in a sector that is hungry to embrace
the latest technology and products.
The ‘Future of Construction’, this year’s
theme, pervaded throughout the nine different
shows within UKCW, and was brought to life
through an innovation trail, 3D printing, AI,
AR, numerous construction site simulators, and
robotic technologies such as the Robocop-esque
ExoSkeleton.
There were more than 650 exhibitors,
demonstrating and launching over 10,000
products and services. The diversity and
innovation on show brought national media
attention, with live broadcasts each day
including BBC Breakfast, Birmingham Live
and BBC News channels.
Delegates were also keen to learn from the
repercussions of the Hackitt Review and the
Grenfell Tower fire. This led to CPDs and
seminars covering the big issues all being
extremely busy, including sessions on the
review of building regulations and fire safety,
quality and the consequences of poor building
practices, insulation and cladding and other
topics concerned with fire.
Other packed-out sessions generated calls for
more responsive planning and housing policies,
more integration across digital construction and
software systems, and more consistency and
guidance from the Government, especially in
procurement and standards.
Equality, diversity and inclusion was also
a major theme, with big debates on the
UKCW stage. There was a highly illuminating
interview with Barbara Res, the woman who
built Trump Tower, plus a presentation by
Lord Blunkett discussing the Heathrow Skills
Taskforce, and the first award presentation
for the UK Construction Week Role Model
of the Year. The role models have already
acted as inspiration for a new generation of
construction professionals. They were invited to
attend the event as part of a successful student
programme.
14 » JAN 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
Feedback on the show has been
phenomenally positive, from exhibitors and
visitors alike.
Stuart Gray, senior building services engineer,
ROK Construction, said:
“You can’t compare looking at the internet
and websites to going around and chatting to
people who really know what they are talking
about. It’s really interesting to see the latest and
greatest technology which is coming into the
world.”
James Fairclough, European director of
marketing, Cemex said:
“UKCW is a fantastic place for us to meet
both existing and potential new customers,
where they can experience our products
and materials first hand and have a level of
interaction that is not possible through other
platforms.
“There is an extremely wide range of people
visiting this show, and over the three days we
see everyone from major contractors, local
government, through to small builders and
self-builders. It is great to see the show growing
and evolving every year since the start and we
are proud to have UKCW as Cemex’s flagship
show.”
Ryan Hill, director at P1 Plaster Superstore
said:
“This is certainly the best show we have
ever exhibited at. This year’s UK Construction
Week can only be described as incredible. The
footfall throughout the show was consistent
and of a high quality, and to the point, we
made record sales throughout the show.
Signing up for 2019 was an easy decision for
us to make.”
James Birch, CEO at Solecco Solar said:
“Everyone at Solecco always looks forward
to exhibiting at UK Construction Week,
as the place to showcase our solar tiles to
key members of the industry, knowing they
will see the best in construction innovation,
technology and services. This year was no
different and we were once again delighted
with the people and connections that were
met and made during the event.”
Looking towards next year’s show, Nathan
Garnett, UKCW event director said:
“There was a tremendous positivity around
UKCW this year, with a real feeling that the
industry wants to adapt and embrace a new
way of building. The success of the Offsite
section was testament to this, as was the
interest in new technology, electric vehicle
infrastructure, renewables, and the IoT Arena.
Our exhibitor rebook rate has exceeded our
expectations and is 40% higher than last year,
so we are really excited about how we can take
this all forward in 2019 at UKCW.”
www.ukconstructionweek.com