The Construction Products Association’s Chairman John Sinfield has announced three strategic objectives and unveilled a new logo for the organisation.
Speaking before an audience of 500 senior industry leaders and government officials at the association’s recent Spring lunch Mr Sinfield, Managing Director of Knauf Insulation for Northern Europe, said: “My compliments to CPA Chief Executive Diana Montgomery and her team for the new look to the logo and the new website. The change is more than skin deep as there has been significant effort put in behind the scenes to rethink and refocus the CPA’s objectives and strategy. More than ever these are clearly centred on responding to the needs of you, the members, and helping your business to succeed.”
Mr Sinfield went on to announce the three new strategic objectives: Increasing Recognition for the Industry, Growing the Market and Reducing Regulatory Risk.
On the issue of increasing recognition of the Industry he explained that the CPA is known as the voice of this industry. He went onto praise the economic forecasts and surveys, for which the CPA is regarded. On the skills shortage he noted: “We have put the CPA at the heart of efforts to study this problem and find effective, practical solutions. We have started a pilot project with the help of CITB and a small number of our members to see if we can put ‘product-user training’ on a more formal footing with nationally recognised qualifications. By doing so, we will not only ensure our products are being installed correctly by qualified individuals, but the builders and tradespeople would be better trained, with more flexible and professional credentials; all of which should in turn improve productivity and ultimately grow our market.”
On the issue of growth Mr Sinfield highlighted BIM and digitalisation as a “key area which will determine growth opportunities.” He went on to say: “Here too, the CPA has been leading on behalf of manufacturers and distributors to prepare for this, and we are now working to develop the next steps to BIM Level 3. We lobbied hard for government’s continued support to Level 3, and so were very pleased to see the recent Budget commitment; while the £15 million investment may seem slight in quantity the signal it sends to industry is in fact strong and appreciated.
“But more broadly, digitalisation, with its demand for collaboration and innovation, plays to our strengths as an industry. As the year progresses, you will hear more about some potentially game-changing developments which the CPA is driving, including Project Data Templates and Digital Object Identifiers.”
On the issue of regulatory risk Mr Sinfield noted: “Not long ago the CPA published a report which studied the factors underpinning investment in our industry. Our research identified 132 current and pending UK and EU policies and regulations impacting our business, not even counting health and safety, human resources, finance or transportation.
“The sheer number and complexity of these policies and regulations is a risk in itself to business. Added to this are the growing complications arising from the need to harmonise regulations both with the EU and the increasingly influential devolved regions in the UK.
“This is another area where, I believe, the CPA really delivers, though it is not always obvious. Again, a tremendous amount of work is done behind the scenes, day in, day out. Protecting our members’ interests. Minimising barriers to doing business and seeking opportunities in the way new regulations are set out. Most importantly though, we try to ensure policies are effective, clearly defined, consistent and have a long-term future.”
