Boosting knowledge, networking or healthy competition?

This September in Glasgow we ran or promoted two very different events where members attended.

SELECT electrical education day

One was hosted by SELECT: Scotland’s trade association for electricians where their Director of Technical Services, Bob Cairney shaped his presentation for an audience of ‘non-electricians.’ Now members have told me that a greater understanding between and across the construction trades should lead to much smoother relationships. So, it was with this in mind that I decided to encourage members to attend.

At this morning event, we learned some statistics from the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service. There is a fairly consistent number of electrical fires attributed to electrical supplies and wiring with around 350 fires each year in Scotland. We learned more about the causes of arcing faults and there was a brief overview of what an Electrical Installation Condition Report looks like. Prosumers is a new term in this report, especially as more and more homeowners are producing (e.g., solar panels) as well as consuming electricity.

There was a lot more input from Bob and whilst this wasn’t training, members left having had their knowledge boosted. Hopefully they are now able to ask more pertinent questions of electricians before, during and after a build.

FMB Scotland Golf Day

The other event was the FMB Scotland Golf Day. Aside from being near Glasgow and giving members the chance to network with each other, the Golf day had nothing in common with the ‘electrical day.’ It was a social event. For me it was a pleasure to meet members who managed to take time out of their busy schedules to compete for the trophy. Congratulations to the winning team from Irvine-based JBA Contracts Ltd.

What kind of events do you want to see in 2023?

For 2023, I am keen to understand if members would prefer in-person ‘knowledge’ events or social ones. We are mindful that it is hard for members to take time away from their business, so I would be interested to hear your thoughts on what type of FMB events would appeal to you in 2023.

Authors

Gordon Nelson

FMB Scotland Hub Director, Federation of Master Builders

Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland

Gordon has nearly twenty years’ experience of working in membership organisations in Scotland and joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in 2014. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and for Unilever in business development, membership management and business-to-business marketing roles. Amongst his responsibilities in his role as the Director for FMB Scotland are public affairs, media relations, governance and representing member’s interests to Scottish policy makers and stakeholders within the Scottish construction industry. Gordon is the Secretary of the Cross-Party Group on Construction in the Scottish Parliament, and he is a member of the Scottish Building Standards Futures Board. Gordon represents the FMB on Scotland’s Construction Industry Collective Voice: which is comprised of the leading construction trade and professional bodies. In spring 2023 Gordon was appointed as an industry co-chair of the Construction Leaderships Forum’s (CLF) Transformation Board.

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