CEWales E Bulletin - January 2019

Happy New Year from Constructing Excellence in Wales!

CEO Milica Kitson welcomes in 2019 and is positive about the future for CEWales 

Many of you will know that CEWales has had a challenging past 18-months or so. But we are optimistic about 2019 and the next few years. Yes, there is much to achieve, and we must work hard to educate and inform everyone in construction that best practice and best value is the right choice for Wales. January is a time for fresh starts and we’re positive about the future.

So, despite our funding from Welsh Government has come to an end and we are now a membership organisation, but still focused on educating, informing and championing the concepts of best practice. To maintain our achievements of the past dozen years or more we need your support more than ever – as members. We need your ideas, direction, commitment and membership. Then we can build on this superb success.

So, what are we doing? We are aligning ourselves to the Future Generations Commission. Despite our change in circumstance, CEWales remains the only organisation in Wales construction that can bring together every sector in the industry. Sophie Howe and her team recognise that to educate and encourage our industry to pursue the objectives of the Future Generations Wales Act she needs us to own that education and engagement process.

There will be more to do and there will be different objectives to pursue – not least prioritising how construction is procured in both the private and public sector. And that is where all of you come in. CEWales is now a members’ organisation. We have around 6,500 stakeholders that we want to sign up as members and we want our members to tell us what to focus on. Make sure you have expressed your view by completing our survey here https://goo.gl/forms/fTqaHVqG4lCZUMcI3

CEWales – me, Susan Selkirk and our new board – are here to serve Welsh construction. We are here to improve the business process, deliver better value for Wales through the core values of best practice as set out in the Egan and Latham reports. Because, despite lack of Government funding, lack of Government representation and worries about funds, a few things remain constant. Wales needs construction to build things; those things – no matter what they are, roads, houses, offices or hospitals – need building with a focus on value. And who is best placed to make sure that principle is adhered to – we are: Constructing Excellence in Wales.