Highlights for Scotland members - what your Scotland Director has been up to this month

I always learn and gain a lot when I manage to escape from the office and spend time with members on site. Now that the early spring sunshine is more or less here, I am more readily tempted out than in midwinter! Recently I was kindly hosted by two member companies at two very different projects. One for a private client and the other for Clackmannanshire Council.

A standout heritage project

John Lasman of Alloa-based Lasman Industries took me to Clackmannan Tolbooth. Built in 1592, the Tolbooth was in need of a sympathetic refurbishment. Once the local authority and Historic Environment Scotland had the funds in place, Lasman Industries delivered the restoration and refurbishment of this ancient building. Based in the centre of Clackmannan, there was a keen interest from the locals in how the works were progressing.

As John explained to me there were many previous poor attempts at repairs of the Tolbooth back in the 1980s, which caused a lot of issues with the roof and stonework being badly eroded. Quite rightly this heritage project has been entered for the 2025 Master Builder Awards.

Building by a lake

There are only a handful of lakes in Scotland, with Pressmennan Lake in East Lothian being one of them. Here Peter McBean and some of the team from PJM Joinery & Building are building a boathouse and a lakeside bothy for a private client. Unlike the Tolbooth, the work is still underway but like the Tolbooth, Peter and his team faced a variety of complex challenges which stretched their problem-solving abilities. Peter also had the unique experience of working in a cofferdam for part of this project.

My thanks to Peter and to John for hosting me and answering all of my questions.

Lobbying in Parliament

On 11 March I met two Labour MSPs in the Scottish Parliament who sought out the FMB’s views on skills and training challenges in the construction sector. Colin Smyth MSP the Convener of the Economy and Fair Work Committee and Daniel Johnson MSP hosted me and the CITB’s Scotland Director Ian Hughes.

I made the case that our members want construction apprenticeships to be industry-led and that our industry needs to prioritised for funding and support. Scotland has ambitious targets on housebuilding and also on retrofitting existing homes and buildings, FMB members being critical partners in delivering on these two ambitions.

We discussed the performance of the college sector and I shared concerns from some of our members on the quality of training provision in some colleges. I also briefed Colin and Daniel on the FMB’s licensing campaign and with the Scottish parliamentary elections 14 months away, I plan to be engaging with more MSPs later this year.

Authors

Gordon Nelson

FMB Scotland Hub Director, Federation of Master Builders

Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland

Gordon has nearly twenty years’ experience of working in membership organisations in Scotland and joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in 2014. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and for Unilever in business development, membership management and business-to-business marketing roles. Amongst his responsibilities in his role as the Director for FMB Scotland are public affairs, media relations, governance and representing member’s interests to Scottish policy makers and stakeholders within the Scottish construction industry. Gordon is the Secretary of the Cross-Party Group on Construction in the Scottish Parliament, and he is a member of the Scottish Building Standards Futures Board. Gordon represents the FMB on Scotland’s Construction Industry Collective Voice: which is comprised of the leading construction trade and professional bodies. In spring 2023 Gordon was appointed as an industry co-chair of the Construction Leaderships Forum’s (CLF) Transformation Board.

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