CELEBRATING 80 YEARS OF THE CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYERS FEDERATION
Putting in place the best possible foundations for the future CEF PRESIDENT BRYAN VAUGHAN OUTLINED THE FEDERATION’S HISTORY DURING HIS ADDRESS AT THE NI CONSTRUCTION GALA DINNER, HELD AT TITANIC BELFAST ON MARCH 27 TO MARK ITS 80TH ANNIVERSARY…
It is a great honour for myself, my family and our company to be standing here this evening as the 31st president of the Construction Employers Federation as we come together to celebrate this, our 80th anniversary. The strength of the CEF throughout those eight decades has been its membership. Through many times of great challenge, we - as homebuilders, contractors and civil engineers - have come together to work in the best interests of our industry and wider society. It is testament to the work of my 30 predecessors, the successive CEF councils and committees, Managing Director Mark Spence’s team and his predecessors that the CEF continues today to be the only certified voice of the construction industry in Northern Ireland. Our industry has played a significant economic, cultural, societal and environmental role over those 80 years in terms of not only how we spearheaded the recovery in the years after 1945, but also how we resolutely continued our work during the Troubles and stood shoulder to shoulder with our politicians as they entered the period of hope and renewal beyond the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Over my 40 years in the industry, I have been struck by the high level of skills of the workforce in Northern Ireland. As time has passed, many of those skills have adapted and changed but, equally, many of the fundamentals remain, passed from generation to generation. Indeed, it is those inter-generational skills which have, primarily over the last 20 years, seen many of you grow
Doors initiative. Across 17 sites, upwards of 500 schoolchildren heard from site staff during a unique behind-the-scenes look at the industry, highlighting the diverse range of career paths and training opportunities available. I joined one of the visits at the new DVA Test Centre being built in Mallusk by Henry Brothers and was struck by the level of interest the young people had in our industry at a time when so much is said about that not being the case. For us, that work of increasing the awareness and understanding of the type and variability of careers in the sector has only just begun. As we move forward with further school engagement,
Bryan Vaughan, CEF President.
development of an opportunity- focused website and the STEM primary school programme this autumn, I believe we are putting in place the best possible foundations for the future. Throughout the 80 years of the CEF, our engagement with Government has been, along with the promotion of our industry, a consistently high priority. I am therefore delighted that the recently appointed Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins MLA will shortly address us on the work that she and the Executive are doing to ensure the local pipeline of work remains strong into the future. In conclusion, I would like to thank all of you for your years of commitment and support as well as everything you have done in ensuring that the construction industry remains vibrant, and central to the economic, cultural and environmental needs of our community.
and succeed beyond these shores – displaying the talents of our people to whole new audiences. As we pause tonight to reflect on the past, we must however also take the critical steps towards inspiring the next generation and encouraging young people to pursue careers in the sector. That is why I believe that the work we are currently undertaking with our partners in the trade union movement through Construction Futures is crucial. In a little over 18 months, Construction Futures Head of Strategic Engagement Fionnuala McKenna and Education Engagement Co-Ordinator Jenni Marshall have taken great strides in developing a programme of work and engagement which has put the future of our industry right at its core. In a first for Northern Ireland, March saw the rolling out of the Open
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