What’s your Christmas wish for Construction?

Cooperation and collaboration, greater worker welfare and a top-to-bottom revolution of the construction sector are all top of the Christmas wish-list for members of the Construction Industry Coronavirus (CICV) Forum, of which CECA Scotland is a leading member.

With a year of massive and unprecedented upheaval drawing to a close, the unique collective asked its 100-plus members to reveal their greatest wishes for 2021 – with the answers as varied as the body itself.

While the pandemic undoubtedly brought a staggering level of challenges, it also ushered in a new era of cooperation which saw the group of more than 70 organisations pull together to help Scotland’s building sector get safely back to work.

And as the Forum released a round-up of its accomplishments and achievements in 2020, many members said their biggest wish is for this teamwork and togetherness to continue.

Alan Wilson, CICV Forum Chair and Managing Director of electrical trade association SELECT, said: “It’s been amazing to see so many different groups and individuals working in a collaborative way with the sole aim of helping the construction industry recover from the current crisis. My wish is that this spirit of collaboration continues in whatever landscape we face in 2021 and beyond.”

Gordon Nelson, Scotland Director of the Federation of Master Builders, echoed his sentiment, saying: “As we all know, necessity is the mother of invention, and the Forum was born out of necessity when the pandemic first struck. Ever since, we’ve seen unprecedented levels of cooperation and my wish is that this becomes the norm in 2021 and beyond.”

Fiona Harper, The Secretary of the Scottish Joint Industry Board, added: “My wish for 2021 is the same as every year – collaboration, collaboration and more collaboration. Now more than ever, we need everyone to recognise that we’re in this together and we’ll only recover and rebuild by cooperating closely.”

For other members of the Forum, their wish-list included the health of both the industry itself and the thousands of professionals who work across it.

John McKinney, Secretary of the NFRC, the Stone Federation and the Scottish Contractors Group, said: “The most important thing is coming out of the pandemic with the least possible number of deaths. I hope the industry takes the time to look at how it operates to ensure that any further instances don’t have the same impact. In future, it’s vital that all parts of the sector are resilient enough to ensure we can continue business as usual.”

Fiona Hodgson, Chief Executive of the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF), said: “I would like to see our industry recover from the pandemic with a plentiful supply of work and, with the push towards low-carbon technologies, there are certainly huge opportunities for plumbing and heating businesses.”

The final word went to our very own Grahame Barn, CECA Scotland’s Chief Executive who said:

“I dream of being able to again enjoy my winter treat of a few home brewed pints with friends at the Moulin Inn near Pitlochry.

In between slavering nonsense and eating good food in front of a roaring fire, I’ll toast the achievements of everyone who worked collaboratively under the banner of the CICV Forum to protect our industry during this awful pandemic.”

Who wouldn’t agree with that!

#RebuildingScotland #InThisTogether