UK Construction Week unites the industry for Britain’s best trade show

BLOG from Howard Chapman, Editor of Buildingtalk

First two days of networking, seminars and new products marked out the inaugural UK Construction Week as the best British building show in a generation – don’t miss out on this key event.

The fist day began with BBC Broadcaster John Humphreys holding the ring as solutions to the ‘housing crisis’ were mauled over and the day finished with a great charity cocktail event last night with live music, charity casino and stories from English rugby legend Austin Healey – raising money too for the show’s official charity, The Lighthouse Club. 

It was a bright start to Day 2 with five halls and thousands of new products and demonstrations to see including:

• Festool power tools demonstrations on all four sides of their huge stand
• Window Ware stand was offering free shoe shines, haircuts and nail treatments for visitors
• Havwoods vintage double decker bus offered a great place to see company’s range of wood and reclaimed wood flooring + free tea and coffee

Here are some comments from exhibitors:

John Meaden, Director of Marketing at Toolstation: “We’ve had a great couple of days at the Build Show, pleased to see the construction industry looking in such good shape. This has been a great platform for us to show our visitors that we are about more than just tools and that our range of products are vast and always available at competitively low prices.  The competitions we’ve launched including the annual ‘win a van’ and our yellow Toolstation goody bags are also proving very popular too.”

Jamie Govier, Managing Director at Easytrim Roofing and Construction Products: “We’ve been really impressed so far with UK Construction Week, there’s been lots of activity and a really interesting mix of visitors.  I’m looking forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring.”

The seminar programme provided a platform for important discussions on the real issues affecting the industry today including tackling the skills shortage, asking how the industry can attract and retain the best talent.  The debate looked at practical ways to encourage more young people, ex-military service personnel and women into the industry. 

And look out for details on the great UKCW Beer Festival!

Your Feedback & Comments

UK Construction Week looks set to become the top annual industry showcase. We invite your comments below, as visitor or exhibitor. Tell us what was good and what can be added to make the show better next year.

About UK Construction Week

Birmingham NEC from 6 – 11 October (with the trade only days from 6 – 8 October) the event will unite 1,000 exhibitors with an expected audience of 55,000 visitors.

Visitors will be able to attend the Build Show (incorporating Civils Expo), Timber Expo, the Surface and Materials Show, Energy 2015, Kitchens & Bathrooms Live, Plant & Machinery Live, HVAC 2015, Smart Buildings 2015 and Grand Designs Live,

For more information please visit www.ukconstructionweek.com or follow @UK_CW on Twitter.