BESA president Malcolm Thomson addressed attendees at a lunch held on Tuesday 13 September at the House of Lords in London.
He began by thanking Lord O’Neill for hosting the event and said that he plans to champion the Association’s campaigns in the fields of diversity, equal opportunities and mental health in the workplace and to stand up for the small contractor.
Mr Thomson is also managing director of Enigma Environmental Services Ltd, a small air conditioning engineering company based in Berkshire.
He said: “Like all business owners I am acutely aware that we are living in interesting times. The expression: ‘May you live in interesting times’ derived from an ancient Chinese curse. They considered ‘interesting’ to mean unsettling, unstable and, therefore, unfortunate. Far better to experience settled circumstances as these lead to prosperity and harmony.
“It was first used in English by Sir Austen Chamberlain – brother of Prime Minister Neville – in 1936. He suggested that no period in history had been “more fraught with insecurity than our present time” and, therefore, he and his contemporaries were cursed to live in such “interesting times”.
“Eight decades later, you have to wonder just how ‘interesting’ he would consider current events.”
Mr Thomson continued: “The world seems to be going through unprecedented turmoil. Have we ever before experienced terrorism of such ferocity and global reach? The financial crash of 2008 created tremors that continue to rock markets and global economies to this day – now exacerbated across Europe by ‘Brexit’ and its accompanying political fallout.
“But what does all this have to do with building engineering services? And how do we, as businesses respond?”
He said: “The building engineering services sector has a key role to play in ensuring the UK economy moves forward. Making buildings perform better is even more crucial because it helps other businesses and other sectors perform more efficiently and productively.
“Also, we still have a major housing shortage. Whether the financial markets are upset or not – we cannot simply stop building. The same applies to infrastructure. The row and ongoing uncertainty over the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station does not alter the fact that we have a serious energy crisis.
“It’s not just about more generation, though. Plugging our energy gap requires reducing demand by improving the energy efficiency of our buildings and transport networks.”
Mr Thomson then went on to say that BESA members are “central to the energy efficiency effort in buildings and we understand the technologies and techniques for narrowing the performance gap”. He said that, given the right budgets and incentives, BESA members can make buildings better places to work and live – improving energy use and comfort conditions for the health, well-being and productivity of occupants.
He added: “We have been pleasantly surprised by the upbeat response to a survey on Brexit and its likely aftermath we have just concluded with the ECA and SELECT. The results suggest our sector believes it can ride out the storm.
“Almost half of the respondents (46%) said Brexit would actually have a positive impact on their company in just five years’ time – just one in five (19%) said it would have a negative impact.”
He went on to address the skills shortage saying: “We are well placed to make this work to our advantage – certainly in the medium to long-term. However, we are suffering from an acute skills shortage, which must be addressed if we are to come through this period in good shape.
“The way apprenticeships are funded and organised is being revolutionised with the launch of the Apprenticeship Levy and development of ‘Trailblazer’ apprenticeship schemes, which is a key element of the Association’s work. As a former apprentice myself, I can testify to how this industry can inspire and develop young people.
“But to pass on our enthusiasm to young people, we first of all have to engage them. Many more might consider a career in building services if they could see how worthwhile and rewarding it can be.
“I plan to use my own experience to inspire work on the new apprenticeships being developed by the Association for the building engineering sector.”
Mr Thomson also addressed the issue of diversity, pointing out that women are severely under-represented in the industry.
“Engineering careers are now more appropriate than ever for women and I am delighted that the Association is taking a lead on this and is now a sponsor of the Womens’ Engineering Society. I’m particularly pleased to see their chief executive, Dawn Bonfield, here today. As BESA president, I have signed up as a mentor for the Society, which is running a programme to encourage women and girls to consider engineering careers.”
He then discussed the importance of small contractors. “Small employers can be just as active in these areas as larger ones. I also believe that among all the ‘big picture’ issues there needs to be greater recognition of the contribution made by small, specialist contractors – like my own company – to the sector’s supply chain.
“Small firms – particularly those in membership of BESA – have a real passion for what they do and refuse to give up when faced with technical or business problems. That often means we don’t switch off and continue to stress about things because we just want to do a good job.
He added: “The fact that the Association has members of all sizes and specialisms is, I believe, one of our greatest strengths.
“During my presidential year, I am dedicating myself to ensuring there is the best possible interaction between small and large BESA members.”
Mr Thomson then reflected on mental health issues and their importance. “Economic uncertainty means this is a particularly stressful time for business owners – small business owners in particular. They and their employees face greater pressure to deliver more, faster and often with serious concerns about payment. More and more people are complaining about stress and depression in our sector, which is why BESA has launched a mental health initiative with the mental health charity Samaritans.
“Our most recent occupational health survey showed that 80% of BESA and ECA members believe mental health will become an increasingly important and challenging issue for them.”
He continued: “This led us to set up a workshop with Samaritans in July with the ECA and the CIBSE Patrons. It was a great success and kicked off an initiative to raise the profile of mental health in our sector and to develop tools, techniques and guidance to assist businesses deal with these issues.”
Mr Thomson concluded by saying: “The things that are important to our sector are equally important to the UK economy and society as a whole. A thriving and stable engineering services profession can deliver building and infrastructure projects that meet the expectations of its end users – something that is key to the future prosperity of the whole country.
“Our times are, clearly, a bit more ‘interesting’ than we would all like, but where there is uncertainty there is also opportunity and those of us able to rise to the challenge can look forward with confidence.”