Building a better Britain after Brexit Bill passes

Howard Chapman, Buildingtalk Editor calls for construction industry response to the Brexit Bill and the Budget, plus reviews Ecobuild.

The Article 50 Brexit Bill passed last night despite last minute attempts to derail the inevitable outcome of the referendum result.

Whatever our views about the wisdom of leaving the EU, now we have to embrace the future, with all its challenges and opportunities, and work together to build a better Britain as good neighbours in a new Europe.

We will bring you a review of industry reaction to the Brexit Bill shortly – or you can post your comment now.

Brexit and Ecobuild

The impact of Brexit on the construction industry was major talking point at Ecobuild last week including Michael Portillo, former defence minister, who was very upbeat about the opportunities for the construction industry.

Ecobuild continues to make a significant impact that contributes to improving the built environment. There were useful discussions on the future of sustainable housing, autonomous cars and urban transport, and other emerging technologies within the industry. I look forward to seeing the show develop under new management

New products at Ecobuild

There were many new product launches at Ecobuild including advanced thermal imaging cameras from FLIR Systems with intelligent interchangeable lenses and laser-assisted autofocus.

There was also a number of industry initiatives designed to help specifiers find solutions to help meet sustainability compliance targets set by schemes like BREEAM and SKA Rating.

I was particularly impressed with the Halo initiative from Dulux Trade that will help reduce carbon and waste.

Ecobuild is now under the new management of Futurebuild Events and we wish Martin Hurn, the event Director,  every success as he seeks make the show even more effective.

Spring Budget

We also had the Spring Budget last week with Chancellor Philip Hammond talking-up an ‘economy that has continued to confound the commentators with robust growth’. We offered some construction industry reaction to the Budget and the opportunity below to post your comment too.