Welcome

Firstly, I cannot believe that I am two-thirds of the way through my presidential year. It seems to have flown by and as we begin a new phase at CABE – commencing with the process of appointing a new Chief Executive – this has enabled me to reflect on the progress CABE has made over the past six years under Dr Gavin Dunn’s leadership. Gavin has well and truly put CABE on the map, ensuring that we are financially stable with a strong membership and a refurbished headquarters that would rival any other member organisation of a similar size or scale. I wish Gavin every success for the future and wish to formally thank him for his contribution as CEO.

We are now mid-process in the recruitment of a new CEO, which we hope to conclude by May this year. I would like to thank Richard Harral for stepping up to Interim CEO during this time and Jackie Macaulay (CABE Chief Operations Officer) for supporting the CABE management team through the recruitment process.

Throughout January I attended most of the regional AGMs and I was humbled to see the dedication that the regional committee members have with respect to their support of CABE and CABE activities locally. I was particularly impressed with the range and diversity of CPD that some are providing, as well as the time commitment certain individuals are making despite the pressures of work or the ongoing competency assessment with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). I wish to thank you for the support you give to CABE and I encourage you to support your regional events.

On Friday 9 February, I was fortunate enough to host the CABE Built Environment Awards 2024 at The Grand Hotel in Birmingham. It was great to see such success within our industry and I congratulate all our winners and nominees. You can read all about the winning projects, organisations and individuals at builtenvironmentseries.com/awards

In this month’s journal we are introducing the Built Environment regional conferences for 2024. I was particularly pleased to have been involved in these events in 2023 and would encourage you to attend these where possible. There will be an excellent line-up of speakers on topics that are relevant to current membership activity with some regional variation. There is likewise an update on the CABE Benevolent Fund, which has supported so many of our members – details of how to donate or support are provided.

Finally, I wish to thank those who have contributed to this month’s technical articles around the subject of fire safety.

Richard Smith PCABE FCABE

CABE President