TICA’s new President talks about the future of the industry and his plans for our Association…
Ian is Managing Director of KAEFER Ltd. He started as a trainee insulation estimator for Darlington Insulation in Burnley more than thirty years ago.
His career has ranged from planning and contracts management to purchasing and took him throughout the UK and Ireland working for Darchem and Cape before becoming Operations Director for C&D in 2006.
How do you feel about taking up the TICA Presidency?
It means a lot; it gives me the opportunity to reconnect with the industry that started my journey, and I’m proud the Association is in such a fantastic position in its development.
We’re a close-knit industry, and whilst many of us cross swords as competitors, we still build lasting relationships that take us from business rivals to personal friends.
Whilst KAEFER is possibly most widely known as an international service provider, our UK roots are firmly planted in the industrial insulation market. We’re committed to maintaining a high quality workforce. This commitment is reinforced by our high annual apprentice intake across all trades and we are proud to have trained TICA Apprentices of the Year.
What are the areas you want the organisation to focus on?
I’d like to see TICA continue to focus on training provision and skills accreditation. I also want us to raise our profile in the construction industry – taking a leading role in Build UK, ECIA and other recognised bodies.
To facilitate this we need to be recognised as an inclusive body welcoming members from all sectors and not protecting the interests of the few. I know the association has a great heritage and my hope is that we build on this to meet future needs.
What do you see as the biggest challenges for TICA in the next two years?
The UK construction industry is in unprecedented times of change, with Brexit looming, major construction companies in difficulty, massive overseas investment in new nuclear and investment in infrastructure such as HS2 and airport expansion.
We are seeing the introduction of the apprentice levy as Government makes industries responsible for defining the training standards to deliver a future workforce to match the market needs. Out of all this change rises opportunity, from which I believe TICA is ideally placed to flourish and become the best in class training provider and skills accreditation body.
I also believe it’s time for a new chapter in industrial relations; we are working to develop closer relationships with the unions on a national level to meet the objectives of our working rule agreement. Our shared goal needs to be to have a UK Thermal Insulation workforce that is highly trained to meet future industry needs with World Class standards of quality and productivity.
