Constructing Excellence in the North East has announced that this year’s annual North East England Construction Summit – A Route To Value, will be held at the Hilton Hotel Newcastle-Gateshead on 18 October.
It is the largest construction conference in the region and supports the industry’s OneVoice campaign, which aims to build a successful, sustainable and inclusive construction industry. It will focus on the OneVoice action plan’s four key themes – value, people, climate and innovation and how they each offer a route to value.
The OneVoice action plan was led by the Construction Industry Council North East (CIC), Constructing Excellence in the North East (CENE), Construction Alliance North East (CAN) and Generation for Change (G4C), as a rallying call to the region to become a beacon of best practice.
AtkinsRéalis (formerly known as Faithful+Gould) is headline sponsor with four key themed sponsors which link to the OneVoice campaign. They include RE:GEN Group as climate sponsor, K2 Construction Management as value sponsor, Esh Construction as people sponsor and Sir Robert McAlpine as innovation sponsor.
The innovation showcase is also returning to this year’s summit, providing an opportunity for SMEs and start-ups who are innovating in areas such as decarbonisation and sustainability to showcase their ideas to regional leaders in construction.
Speakers on the day will be linked to the key themes including, Lucy Malarkey, director, Positive About Inclusion, who will lead on the people theme and climate will be a key focus for Jess Cook, Net Zero programme manager, North of Tyne Combined Authority.
Kay Tor, project delivery advisor, Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) will discuss value and Natasha Boulding, co-founder at Low Carbon Materials will explore innovation.
Low carbon Materials, developer of raw materials for the built environment, completed a place on the WSP USA Emerging Growth Partnership Programme, following a meeting at the OneVoice, North East England Construction Summit 2021. The company was also a 2022 Earthshot prize finalist.
Kathyrn Gardner, regional director at AtkinsRéalis, headline sponsor of the summit and chair of the value group, said: “This is a key calendar event and we continue to showcase our support as headline sponsor.
“This year, the summit impresses the importance of ‘A Route To Value.’ We want to define value and make it accessible, so we move away from projects being deemed a success because they were delivered to minimum standards at the lowest capital cost on completion. Value will flow throughout the day through each of the four key themes as we explore its importance.”
Carol Cairns, chair of Constructing Excellence in the North East, said: “As ever our annual Construction Summit is shaping up to be a must attend event, bringing the whole industry together showcasing leading edge practice. Our focus on value is particularly pertinent given the significant impact the construction industry has on our society, delivering environmental improvements, economic growth and social value.”