Mr Ivor Roberts MD of Nusteel Structures has succeeded Mr Jack Sanderson as president of the British Constructional Steelwork Association. Mr Ian Hoppé director at Rowecord Engineering is elected to the role of deputy president.
Mr Sanderson's final address as president took place at the Annual General Meeting of the BCSA held at Fishmongers’ Hall on July 13th 2011. He spoke about market conditions; Health and Safety; joint market development between TATA Steel and the BCSA; the arrival of CE Marking and the Target Zero project.
Mr Sanderson said that although at long last there are some tentative signs of recovery in new orders for small and medium size projects in the private sector, significant overall improvement is not expected until the beginning of 2012. Output for the steel construction sector fell slightly last year from 926,000 tonnes in 2009 to 919,000 tonnes in 2010 and is expected to remain relatively stable in 2011. Output is expected to increase by 4% in 2012 and again by a further 5% the following year, taking it back to around the 1M tonnes level by 2013.
Mr Sanderson said that "We place the health and safety of the sector’s workforce at the top of our agenda and hence we are delighted that the efforts of the BCSA over the past ten years have been recognized by the presentation of a National Health and Safety Award by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. BCSA is the first-ever winner of this new award, which recognizes the most outstanding contribution made by a trade association or similar body to provide health and safety assistance to SMEs, and Pete Walker, the BCSA’s Health & Safety Manager picked-up the award on our behalf recently. This success is particularly notable in that the award covers all sectors, not just construction."
He added that "Our joint co operation with TATA Steel on steel construction market development is now firmly established and is well underway. The BCSA and TATA Steel are committed to the long term funding of research and market development, under the direction of a Joint Market Development Board. As part of our joint activities ten TATA Steel staff have joined the BCSA on long term secondment and earlier this year we opened a new BCSA office in Doncaster to accommodate our enlarged northern based staff team."
The appointment of Ms Sarah McCann Bartlett as the new leader of the British Constructional Steelwork Association was formally announced at the AGM. Ms Sarah will take over from Mr Derek Tordoff director general in December 2011 when he retires from the Association after 35 years, 27 of those years spent at the helm. Ms Sarah will take up her new position as Director General Designate with the BCSA in September 2011.
Mr Sanderson said that "The BCSA has an exciting future and remains committed to serving the steel construction industry. I am confident that our successors will provide the imagination and guidance to enable the association to play a vital role in the next chapters of the ongoing development of the industry. In conclusion I believe that BCSA is in good shape and, despite another difficult year ahead, I look forward to the future with confidence for both the industry and the Association."
