Business issues

Construction

The CBI Construction Council has been going strong since autumn 2008 – it brings together circa 30 chief executives from across the construction sector’s supply chain, and steers the CBI’s construction agenda so that we can speak on behalf of the sector with one voice.

Steve Hindley, Chairman of Midas Construction Group, Chair of the Construction Council

The Council’s membership includes smaller contractors, such as Midas Group and Henry Boot Plc, as well as major contractors and house builders and representatives from across the supply chain including manufacturing, aggregates, consultancy services, and most recently, the professional services.

A core Council focus this year is articulating the sector’s potential to help create jobs and growth across the UK and support a private-sector led recovery. As such, the Council’s mission is twofold:

To promote the importance and role of the construction sector as an economic engine – because of its vast value chain, job-creation capacity, strong regional presence and high economic multiplier
To help Government create an environment where the sector can thrive in the UK

To take forward its mission, the Council advises on a number of construction ‘hot issues’; currently these include:

Driving investment in infrastructure
Reducing costs and improving efficiency
Building the conditions for growth
Embedding sustainability
Securing an effective new Chief Construction Adviser

We are also running a Council-led campaign, supported by CBI’s wider industry footprint, for ‘Boosting construction jobs’ and positioning the sector as a solution to job creation.

How the diversity of the council enables it to speak with “one voice” – David Short, Chairman of the Clegg Group and Philip Bouverat, Director of Global Accounts JC Bamford Excavators Ltd.