THE first social event held by B&ES Wales since its formation in February of this year resulted in a total of £1,700 being donated to local charities.

B&ES Wales is the newly created division of the long established Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES) that nationally represents 1400 companies with 60 in Wales; they are engaged in providing a wide range of building and engineering services to the construction sector.

The proceeds of a prize draw held at the event – a dinner dance hosted by B&ES Wales chairman Andy Tonkin at the Vale Resort, Glamorgan – was divided between Solas Cymru, which provides housing and educational services to vulnerable and homeless young people, and a fund created in support of Caroline Francis, a 52-year-old mother-of-two who has had both legs and hands amputated after developing septicaemia.

During the proceedings, B&ES president elect Andy Sneyd reminded his audience of the formal launch of B&ES Wales, which had taken place in the Senedd – the home of the Welsh Assembly Government – just a few weeks before.

“B&ES Wales allows our association to speak with one voice for all its member firms in Wales, and so ensure that our messages are heard loud and clear in the ‘corridors of power’ of Cardiff and beyond,” Mr Sneyd pointed out.

He stressed that the need to be heard on the issues of the day was of ever-increasing importance at a time when the construction industry and the building engineering services sector were facing fundamental change in an increasingly digitalised age.

Such change was affecting technical and quality standards, concepts of energy efficiency, the reduction of carbon emissions, workforce terms and conditions, the relationship between all parties to the construction process, and the expectations of the marketplace.

“B&ES and its members have long been aware that strength is born out of unity – and that the more common causes we can make, the more effective our actions, and our initiatives, will be,” the president elect insisted.

And he cited securing better payment terms, addressing growing skills shortages and raising awareness among clients of what building engineering services contractors could do for them as key priorities for the association and the sector it represents.

For more information about B&ES visit: www.b-es.org.