MEMBER News
North Director Carolyn Frank
NORTH
Meet FMB North Director Carolyn Frank
What is the FMB doing to help mitigate those concerns? We provide a wide range of resources to our members to help them run a professional and efficient business, keep costs low and attract quality customers. We are working on the skills agenda, planning reforms and exerting influence on net zero through our policy team, while informing members how to position themselves to be future-ready. Articulating the struggle to get affordable finance to thrive is an ongoing discussion locally and nationally. This is not just for businesses but also consumers who need to fund renovation work on their homes. Getting to know you Cheese or chocolate? Cheese. Dog or cat? Dog, although I cat-sit for a friend once a year, worst week ever. First car owned? Strato Silver Ford Fiesta mk2 1.4S. Favourite film? Reservoir Dogs . Favourite holiday spot? Madeira (or where I live, North York Moors). Have you been a client of an FMB member? Not yet. My cousin is a builder so I went for the family discount for my home renovation.
What are you working on in your region right now?
members about their businesses and their genuine passion for the industry. It is clear that there are barriers to growth, and the obvious skills gap from younger entrants into the labour market is a key issue. Announcements by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MCHLG) on changes to planning can unlock opportunities for small firms. Coupled with the retrofit agenda, our members are ready to tackle the challenge. Based on your knowledge of your region’s members, what would you say is their most pressing concern at the moment? The employability skills of apprentices is a worry (“can’t get them off their phones”), but the general economic conditions and cost-of-living crisis are the most pressing – as well as access to finance for our members to invest and grow. Keeping up with technology is also an issue for busy business owners. If you’re on the tools it’s tough to keep up in the office as well, but I feel like we are on the cusp of a digital revolution – not just for streamlining admin, but equally with new technologies in construction methods, and around net zero and intelligent buildings.
We are coming up to our three Annual General Meetings (AGMs) in the North, and I am looking forward to getting to know the board members, and encouraging more members to make the most of their membership by getting involved in regional boards. New faces are always welcome. I’m excited to raise the profile of the FMB across the North, getting the voice of our members heard and unlocking the opportunities that devolution is bringing to the region for the construction sector, so I’ll be reaching out to key stakeholders over the next few weeks, and seeing how I can link members with the opportunities. I have been involved with a new retrofit strategy for North Yorkshire, the Local Skills improvement plans, and I am identifying more areas where construction is a focus, and FMB can get involved. On a scale of 1-10, how optimistic are you about the immediate future of the UK’s construction industry and why? Eight. I feel optimistic. I’ve joined the industry at a pivotal, exciting time, and I am impressed by the positivity I’ve heard from
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Master Builder
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