New president of B&ES focuses on era of ‘unprecedented changes’

B&ES, Andy Sneyd

Andy Sneyd, the newly elected president of the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES), believes that construction and building engineering services are ‘living through an era of unprecedented change’. Speaking at the association’s annual general meeting, he said, ‘Many people believe that the industry and the part we play in it will remain pretty much the same as in decades past, but this is a mistake.’

He is currently head of design for national contractor Crown House Technologies, a subsidiary of the multi-disciplinary Laing O’Rourke construction group, and manages the design and engineering aspects of mechanical, electrical and plumbing projects worth £300 million annually. He controls a design budget of over £20 million.

He told his audience, ‘The truth is that change is here to stay. If we are to survive and prosper, as a sector and as individual businesses, we much not only embrace that change, we must actively lead it.’

He sees the role of B&ES as supporting, educating and encouraging its members as they face the changes posed by new technologies, the ever-growing demand for energy efficiency and the quest for smarter working practices. — the last perhaps best exemplified by the BIM revolution, in which the contracting sector has a pivotal role to play.

He explained that in his ‘day job’ as head of design for Crown House Technologies, he had learned that progress was seldom, if ever, the result of a single party to the construction process ‘going it alone’.

He explained, ‘True progress derives from co-operation, from collaboration and from partnerships formed by those who share a real commitment to continuous improvement and a genuine desire to work better, smarter and more productively — to the benefit of all concerned.’

Speaking as the first officer of the association to have served exclusively in the B&ES era (the association was previously known as HVCA), he acknowledged that many of today’s key issues such as fair payment, early involvement in the construction process, skills shortages and raising awareness of the added value specialist contractors can deliver to their clients were by no means new. ‘But having been around for so long doesn’t make them any less serious or finding solutions to them any less urgent — and they will remain high on the agenda during my term of office,’ he concluded.

Jim Marner of Shepherd Engineering Services is president elect.

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