Ecobuild 2018 - A New Hope .....
The UK has a love/hate relationship with exhibitions. We would love to exhibit and attend them but all too often we get cold feet and don’t. However over the past 12 months a number of small niche shows have started to reignite our love affair with shows and it was refreshing, this week, to see Ecobuild buck the trend and prove that large events do have a very important place in the UK.
As an industry, the last few months have not been a happy time. From the tragedy at Grenfell tower to the collapse of Carillion and the uncertainty that BREXIT is presenting, there has been little to celebrate. So it would be very easy to assume that a trade conference and exhibition is hardly going to be a place of positivity - wrong.
From the moment the doors open there was something in the air at Ecobuild – a sense of get up and go. Maybe it was the fact that everyone had cabin fever from the previous week’s snow and wanted to get out and talk to people or maybe it was that genuine deep down determination that the UK is really good at what we do and we should hold our heads up high.
Yes there are areas that need to be improved as highlighted in the ‘Construction quality in a post-Grenfell world’ seminar session. Chaired by Jane Duncan, Immediate Past President RIBA and Chair of RIBA Fire Safety Advisory Group, it included speakers from the Good Homes Alliance, Lendlease, Home Owners Alliance, Construction Products Association and Cullinan Studio. A mix of views and opinions, the panel – and audience – prompted by Jane Duncan agreed on three things: -
1. Government needs to take some responsibility for the industry by reappraising Regulations
2. If we to get the quality we desire, we need to stop looking at the cost savings of today
3. Risk has to be understood. We need evidence and data that we can share so we can all move forward
The conference programme was packed from open to close, with a variety of seminars that illustrated the diversity of the industry. Elsewhere there were new products on show, clever innovations and a number of international companies who clearly see the UK as an opportunity. It was in many ways back to the authentic roots of the early days of Ecobuild.
I hope that Ecobuild has proved that well thought out and planned events can work and can deliver a ROI. Next year, Ecobuild will be hosted under its new name of FutureBuild – a nod to the past with a clear eye on the future. I, for one, say roll on next year ….