Member Article

RIBA president to address Greater Manchester Construction Summit

The President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Stephen R Hodder MBE, will be one of the key speakers at Greater Manchester’s first ever Construction Summit.

The one-day conference, which is being organised by Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, will give an overview of the construction industry locally and highlight how the sector contributes to the regional and national economy.

Stephen R Hodder has been in architectural practice since 1983. Hodder + Partners has won over 40 major awards, including the most important award in British architecture, the inaugural RIBA Stirling Prize in 1996 for the Centenary Building, University of Salford.

He has written and lectured widely, and has been visiting examiner at a number of schools of architecture. He is currently Visiting Professor at the Belfast School of Architecture. Stephen was awarded an MBE for services to architecture in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 1998.

Jocelyne Underwood, Construction Sector Lead at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “We’re thrilled to have Stephen on board at the first Greater Manchester Construction Summit.

“With Stephen being local to the area, and as a graduate of Manchester University’s School of Architecture, we look forward to hearing his views on how construction performs as an engine for growth in Manchester.”

Other speakers at the summit will include Peter Hansford, the Government’s Construction Adviser, Sir Richard Leese, the Leader of Manchester City Council, and Baroness Beverley Hughes.

The summit will feature panels covering the following key construction topics:

• “Pipelines & the Demand for Construction and Infrastructure Supply Services” which will discuss the need, challenges and benefits of developing and supplying clear and accessible data about upcoming short, medium and long term pipelines of work.

• “Training for the Future” looking at what is perhaps the most common issue raised within the construction sector - the shortage of skilled staff.

• “Innovation and the Changing State of Construction” looking at the Government’s Vision 2025 document which lays out challenging targets for the reduction of carbon, cost and waste.

• “Best Practice in Procurement - How the Money is Being Spent” discussing the work which has been undertaken to identify where problems arise in the process, some of the actions that are being taken to try to address them, and what more needs to be done to ensure that the construction marketplace is open and accessible to all and that procured projects can be delivered on budget.

• “Construction as an Engine for Growth” with the £15bn pipeline of work identified by Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Construction Pipeline Analysis’ the panel will be assessing and discussing the impact of the issues that have been examined during the day, looking at how these can and should be addressed by government and the industry and formulating the headline messages for the summit.

The Construction Summit will take place on 11th July at The Point, Emirates Old Trafford. For more information go to www.gmchamber.co.uk/events/794

The main sponsors for the event are DBX Acoustics, Barbour ABI and CITB. Endorsing Partners for the event are: ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers), Constructing Excellence, University of Salford, Royal Institute of British Architects, North West ICG, Association for Consultancy and Engineering, Chartered Institute of Building, North West Construction Hub as well as the Construction Group Training Association.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .