Next week one of the most important events CEW has staged is happening with the support and involvement of the Government. The conference looking at Welsh infrastructure will take a big picture view of what our country needs to grow, flex, cope with the changing demographics of work and life and – perhaps most importantly – how we build those solutions.

It is not about the detail. For that we have other events such as the recent workshop looking at CL:AIRE codes of practice. As an industry we seem to lap up the detail. We are good at the nuances that make small, but often crucial differences to a project. But are we strategic enough in our operations and our thinking? It is not enough to build well and work as a team. As individuals and as separate organisations – no matter if we are clients, local authorities, healthcare trusts, small or medium sized builders, big players or materials suppliers – we all need to consider the bigger picture.

If Wales is to continue to build itself out of recession and create the built environment we need for our economy and our people to thrive within, then we need to look beyond the tactical and reactive decisions we face day to day. Yes, we need to examine the details of the issues – whether it is BIM, sprinkler systems, sustainable urban drainage solutions or better ways of communicating with communities affected by our schemes – but we must begin to think big. We have to determine how we want our Welsh built environment to look, where the skilled workforce will come from to create that built environment and how we will finance it.