CEA Conference – Tools to Bridge the Skills Gap

Details of the Construction Equipment Association’s half-yearly conference – Skills for Profit Day

THE Construction Equipment Association (CEA) will be holding its half-yearly conference – Skills for Profit Day - Tools to Bridge the Skills Gap – on Wednesday 25 March at Woodland Grange Conference Centre, Old Milverton Lane, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.

The aim of this CEA event is for the construction equipment industry to get to grips with the challenge of the skills shortage. CEA chief executive Rob Oliver said: ‘Our 2014 Sector Study showed that most companies had recruitment and skills issues. The conference will look at the supply side and the education pipeline of potential recruits. It will also examine the demand side, where the skills gap exists, and what can be done about it, as well as focusing on upskilling, and opportunities for outsourcing.’

The CEA team says it aims to provide enough information and ideas to give businesses the tool kit they need to help bridge the skills gap. The conference, which will be moderated by national TV news correspondent Nick Higham, is targeted at directors and managers serving the construction equipment sector as well as education professionals seeking an insight into sector requirements.

Confirmed speakers and panellists include: Prof Simon Hodgson, President of the Engineering Professors’ Council and Dean of the School of Science and Engineering at Teesside University; Dr Colin Brown, engineering director at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers; Richard Welford, chief global strategy officer with Tata Technologies Ltd; Christian Warden, programme director with Engineering Skills Service, EEF; John Finn from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills; Susan Scurlock, founder and CEO of Primary Engineer; Prof. Colin Garner, director of the Caterpillar Innovation & Research Centre at Loughborough University; Claire Donovan, head of education policy at the Royal Academy of Engineering; and Lucy Francis, HR manager with Caterpillar.

Conference attendance is free of charge for CEA members and £85 + VAT for non-members. For further information contact: charlotte.harmer@admin.co.uk