The FMB National President, Ron Storer, has been in office for six months now. He spoke with Master Builder’s Nicky Rogers about the achievements of his presidency to date and what he has planned for the rest of his term.
The role of the FMB National President is primarily to promote the FMB and look after its members’ best interests. When Ron was elected last October, he knew that the first issue he had to address was the economy and the credit crunch. At that time, no-one could have predicted just how hard the financial crisis would sink its teeth into British life. The construction industry is often the hardest hit and as the crisis deepens, we are seeing job losses across the industry as, according to some reports, housebuilding has slowed to its lowest level for 84 years.
It was therefore a gloomy start to Ron’s presidency, but in his first six months he has made it a priority to talk to industry leaders, politicians and the media to promote the FMB and its members. Last year’s FMB National Conference took the theme ‘Survive and Thrive’ so this is the main focus of Ron’s work and is likely to remain so until the end of his term.
Ron has used his time as FMB Vice President very wisely, to talk and listen to members all over the country and build on contacts he made within the industry during his long career as a bricklayer. As members will know, Ron has been a member of the FMB for many years – 40 in fact. He joined in 1967 and the following year joined the committee of the Wirral branch. During this time he has witnessed many changes to the construction industry – and there are clearly major challenges facing the industry today but Ron is convinced that the internal structures of the FMB are robust enough to meet the needs of its members throughout these difficult times.
Since his presidency began last September, Ron has visited FMB Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to meet members and local business people, as well as many regions and branches in England. He said: “These visits are vital during these difficult times for the construction industry. Having survived a previous downturn in the economy myself, I feel it is important to keep in touch with members to keep them informed of our current campaigns and to offer unfailing support.”
WORK IN PROGRESS
Ron continues to work tirelessly for the FMB, raising its profile amongst influential organisations and representing the entire membership at every event he attends. He also maintains his own business and is committed to raising money for charity. Following the auction at the last AGM and Conference at the end of last summer, Ron presented a cheque for £3200 to Claire House Children’s Hospice, he said: “I would personally like to thank all involved for their generosity.” The rest of Ron’s presidency will continue apace and will be just as busy attending regional conferences and meetings across the country. He said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to represent the FMB as National President and I would like to thank all FMB members and staff for their support and look forward to working with them over the coming months.
FMB CAMPAIGNS
Members will be aware of the campaigns supported by the FMB and Ron has given his unwavering support to all of them. Just as he began his term, he travelled to Scotland to be a signatory to the 2012 Construction Commitments – the principals of which are intended to be an aspirational ‘statement of intent’ from the industry on standards and best practice in construction.
In November he joined over 500 members and their clients, together with the FMB partners to celebrate the Master Builder of the Year 2008. In February this year he went to Westminster to the launch of the new ‘Get Britain Building’ campaign. Ron said: "We hope that with our partners, we will encourage the Government to make a number of significant changes. We drew up the “Get Britain Building 10 Point Plan” which among other things, encourages banks to start lending to prudent borrowers, the reduction in VAT to five percent and a simplification of the planning system, all of these demands will have a positive impact on members’ businesses.”
The construction industry as a whole will benefit from these high profile campaigns. But Ron’s deep concern for FMB members is to help them to maintain their businesses through the recession, and be in a healthy position to resume high levels of work when it comes to an end. Ron said: “There is no question – this will come to an end – we just don’t know when. It is more vital than ever that the FMB is able to advise and inform members of its ‘Survive and Thrive’ campaign. My visits to the regions will hopefully go some way to raise the profile of this campaign and reassure members that the FMB is committed to helping them through these uncertain times.”
