BCSA News and Insights
News
President's Column March 2020
13 Mar 2020
Sorry to start on a gloomy note, but I'm dismayed to read on a regular basis that main and specialistcontractors are going under or in difficulty. These are long-standing companies whose expertise and skills are a great loss to the construction sector, at a time when skill shortages are becoming more obvious and when we need to attract a new and more diverse set of people into the industry. This mirrors the economic uncertainty and challenges of recent times with a softening in activity and...
President's Column February 2020
14 Feb 2020
There's little doubt that climate change and sustainability are gaining momentum in our domestic lives as well as in industry. Greta Thurnberg argues that humanity is facing an existence crisis and that climate change is fast becoming the number one issue for the world. Perhaps the scale of the fires in Australia has shown us this in some wayThis shift in emphasis towards carbon reduction has put it in the spotlight for us all. As it's not going away anytime soon, we'll also be under this...
President's Column January 2020
07 Jan 2020
The adage cash is king is never more real, cashflow is the life blood for any company. Recent developments with late payments, retentions and increases in the cost of Professional Indemnity insurance coupled with the proposals from government to impose reverse VAT on parts of the construction industry are stretching some companies to breaking point.Many steelwork contractors are suffering from the doubling and trebling of PI insurance premiums. Insurance companies that are willing to offer...
President's Column November/December 2019
22 Nov 2019
What's going on in the construction sector at the moment? On one hand, we have the statistics implying its all doom and gloom, and on the other hand, many of my customers are saying they've never been busier. How do we reconcile these conflicting sentiments, and what do they mean for us all?The IHS Markit / CIPS UK Construction PMI has been in the doldrums for months, sitting well below the 50 break even point. Their latest data release for October was 44.2, following on from September's weak...
Build UK launch new website
18 Nov 2019
Build UK have launched a new website that aims to help businesses prepare for Brexit by summarising the latest available information.To visit the new website please click the link below. Brexit Build UK Website
BCSA releases new Historic Steelwork Publication
18 Nov 2019
With many cast iron, wrought iron and early steel structures still in use today, it is essential that engineers have access to practical information on the types of material, their properties and the section sizes used, should such structures require repairs, alterations or strengthening for a change of use.Originally published in 1984, BCSA's Historical Structural Steelwork Handbook has been one of the books to go to for those tasked with inspecting, investigating and assessing historical...
BCSA supports NCE Future of Bridges conference
23 Oct 2019
BCSA is supporting New Civil Engineer's (NCE) two-day Future of Bridges conference and is able to provide 15% discount to BCSA members.To book your place please visit the Future of Bridges booking page and enter the discount code BCSA15 when you checkout.The event, which will be held at the America Square Conference Centre in the City of London on the 25th and 26th November, and will showcase a number of inspiring projects from around the world, and address some sobering lessons from...
President's Column October 2019
14 Oct 2019
One thing that really raises my blood pressure is hearing politicians using that old chestnut 'metal bashers' when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. But it's sometimes hard for those outside the sector to reconcile their traditional image of the structural steelwork industry with the modern-day reality of digitisation, automation and business process improvement.In fact, BCSA members are already expert in the use of technology and automation and are always on the lookout for...
2019 Structural Steel Design Awards winners announced
02 Oct 2019
The Structural Steel Design Awards have recognised and rewarded many of the best examples of ambition and innovation in our built environment. Now celebrating their 51st year, the 2019 Awards, jointly sponsored by the British Constructional Steelwork Association and Trimble Solutions (UK) Ltd, continue that great tradition. This year's collection of entries once again demonstrates the excellence achievable with the use of steel, as well as structural and architectural design.The Judges...
President's Column September 2019
16 Sep 2019
From small acorns grow mighty oaks. This wellknown proverb applies perfectly to the UK's structural steelwork sector.BCSA has many substantial member companies who only a generation or two ago were just starting out and are now contributing significant amounts to the UK's economic growth, productivity improvements and employment. And BCSA's small and medium sized member companies are individually and collectively contributing to UK PLC. While some of these companies will continue to remain...