10 | SEPTEMBER 2019
News
Installer News is
sponsored by FENSA
SHORT OF TIME FOR LEARNING
AND NETWORKING? HERE’S SEVEN
REASONS TO MAKE SOME TIME…
We all know we need to get out more. How else will we meet new people, learn new things, find
new ideas and discover new products? Yet the pressure on our time is unrelenting. It can be
difficult to justify time out of the office with all those deadlines looming and emails piling up.
Construction Innovation Hub, Sa-
rah Beale, chief executive of CITB
and Sonia Zahiroddiny, BIM Strate-
gy Manager for HS2. The UKCW
main stage is the place to head to.
It offers a programme of keynote
talks and panel discussions on
many of the big issues of the day
around Government policy, digital
innovation, MMC, sustainability,
diversity, housebuilding, produc-
tivity and skills.
The internet provides part of
the answer, of course. But the
smartest solution for busy con-
struction professionals is also
about choosing days out that can
be crammed with as much value
as possible. By taking advantage
of UK Construction Week (UKCW)
you can tick off all the above at
one event.
If you’re not yet registered to at-
tend the UK’s largest construction
event, here are seven things that
ought to convince you to pop over
to the NEC on 8-10 October.
There are
‘ mini-theatres
covering
regeneration,
MMC, digital
construction,
energy and
HVAC, surfaces
and materials,
timber and the
workplace
1. Products, products
everywhere
New products are always being
developed to meet different and
emerging needs. Staying up to
date with all the latest technol-
ogy is essential to find the right
product for the job. So, if you
need to source a new heat pump,
find a new sustainable material,
discover new roofing products or
even new BIM software, then look
no further than UKCW. With over
10,000 products being showcased
at the event, it makes it the ideal
marketplace to source your new
product. With eight different
sections ranging from build to
timber and from surfaces to civils
everything you need is right there
under one roof.
2. That lucky encounter
Year after year, visitors at UK
Construction Week say they won
new work as a result of a planned
meeting or a chance encounter at
the show. People do business with
people – and with 35,000 visitors
set to attend UKCW, that is a lot
of potential leads. Meeting face
to face is the most engaging way
to do business and UKCW can fa-
cilitate that. If you have spotted a
business that you want to connect
with contact them through the
exhibitors’ portal and arrange the
meeting in advance. 4,000 busi-
ness meetings were booked by
UKCW visitors prior to the show
last year, and exhibitors reported
that they had generated 70,000
new business leads at the event.
To help with meetings, there’s
a new business and networking
lounge with free WIFI.
3. Genuine innovation,
not another widget
You could leave the future of
the industry as a surprise. But
where’s the business sense in
that? Disruptors are now present
in many different markets, so this
year UKCW is shining a spotlight
on the serious change-makers in
construction. To aid the search,
a new Innovation Zone has been
established in partnership with the
Construction Innovation Hub (the
Hub).
’
Another new addition for this
year is the Innovation Station in
partnership with On the Tools.
This is a demonstration area
specifically for power tools, with
all the latest biscuit jointers and
heavy-duty bench grinders from
top trade brands in action. Visitors
can pick up tips from the experts
on how to get the most from their
range, try out the latest products,
and cut a deal with the manu-
facturers as show discounts will
apply.
4. Your own personal
industry MBA
Condense your strategic busi-
ness learning into one, two or
three days of insights. UKCW
brings together more than 300
expert speakers including Mark
Farmer who is spearheading
policy initiatives on MMC, Pro-
fessor Birgitte Andersen of the
Big Innovation Centre, Chandru
Dissanayeke, director of building
safety reforms at MHCLG, Keith
Waller, programme director at the
And if that’s all a bit too high
level, get stuck into the details at
a wide range of workshops. This
year there will be more than 150
hours of CPD content available.
The programme will take on a
different theme for each day of the
show, tackling fire safety, health
and wellbeing and sustainability.
There are mini-theatres cover-
ing regeneration, MMC, digital
construction, energy and HVAC,
surfaces and materials, timber
and the workplace. There’s a new
Careers Centre offering workshops
on career progression, appren-
ticeships, staff retention, diversity,
career change and new talent.