UK Construction Week 2021 – Who Will Be There?
From the 5th – 7th October, we at Construction Helpline will be at the Birmingham NEC for UK Construction Week 2021. Along with a couple of members of our hardworking marketing team, there will be a few special guests joining us throughout the 3-day exhibition.
Umer Mansoor – Construction Helpline Ltd CEO
Our very own CEO, Umer Mansoor, will be joining us at UKCW 2021. Over the last 10 years under the leadership of Umer, Construction Helpline has provided over 300,000 CSCS cards along with 200,000 health and safety courses across the UK, establishing ourselves as a leading construction-based training and testing provider. At CHL, we have always valued equality, diversity and inclusion within the building industry and this will be one of the main focuses for Umer at Construction Week. Not only do we believe encouraging diversity is the right thing to do in general, but it is also important to promote diversity within the construction industry. Umer hopes to change the aged perception of construction by working with partners, organisations and attending events to explore progressive methods to overcome the lack of diversity within the industry.
Christina Demetriou – Class 1/2 HGV Driver & HIAB Operator
When it comes to women who are actively making an impact in supporting and empowering women in construction, Christina Demetriou is one of those women making a stand for diversity and equality in the industry. Christina Demetriou is a Class 1/2 HGV tipper driver and certified HIAB crane operator who has amassed a following on social media by continuously empowering women to feel comfortable doing the uncomfortable, advising those who are thinking about a career in construction to “just go for it”. Just as much as she is passionate with her work, she is even more passionate about being a great mother and is currently working through an agency doing ad hoc work on her own time so she can have the perfect balance of being a full-time mum and construction operator/driver.
Amos Simbo – Founder of Black Professionals in Construction
Earlier this year we were proud to announce our partnership with Black Professionals in Construction, a support network organisation that specialises in improving representation in the building industry by connecting black and ethnic minority professionals with industry corporations. Since graduating from Loughborough University, Amos Simbo, founder of BPIC, has overseen mechanical engineering services in construction as a Technical Service Manager, with ambitions of one day having his own mechanical engineering consultancy. Our partnership involves providing complimentary CSCS green labourer courses in health and safety to select BPIC members, with test, card and course all included. We hope these courses will help establish BAME jobseekers with their first steps in building their careers in construction and enable the much needed change in the industry.
Anjali Pindoria – Project Surveyor & Acclaimed Public Speaker
Speaking with Umer at the exhibition will be Anjali Pindoria, a project surveyor at Avi Contracts Ltd and a public speaker who is a proud advocate for inclusivity and diversity within construction. Anjali has worked with a number of organisations, such as Construction Helpline and the CITB, to discuss the lack of representation in construction and how it must be improved. Being awarded with ‘UK Construction Week Role Model’ in 2019 and the ‘Journeyman Constructor’ by the Worshipful Company of Constructors, Anjali is no stranger to the acclaim she has received for her work in presenting the industry in a more positive light towards BAME, women and youth. Through her experience and research, Anjali hopes to enable the industry to have a clearer insight into what the Y-generation perceive the industry to be like and have a clearer understanding of the root problem faced in relation to diversity.
Bola Abisogun OBE – Founder of DiverseCity Surveyors
We are pleased to announce that Bola Abisogun will also be joining us at UKCW to further discuss matters of diversity. Bola is a Chartered Surveyor, an Independent Management Consultant and a Charted Construction Manager who has always had a desire to work in all thing’s construction. Being a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Bola’s long term mission is to positively influence both UK public and private sector’s policy on “diversity of thought” and emphasise opportunities that are based solely on individual talent and capability. Therefore in 2006, Bola established the RICS supported ‘DiverseCity Surveyors’ to address the imbalance in diversity across the construction sector, with the principal objective of increasing the job retention of ethnic minorities in the construction sector and surveying profession in the UK. For his contributions to diversity and young people in construction, he was awarded an OBE in 2018 and continues to promote the surveying profession to young people, with a particular focus on those with BAME and non-traditional backgrounds.
Summary
Find us at stand B115 for a chat and get to know the exciting plans we have for the upcoming months. For my information about who we are and what we do, check out our exhibition web page for the services/products we offer, including CSCS cards and NVQ courses.