Constructing Excellence is CEW’s sister organisation operating out of London and our mentor and partner too. What’s going on there and how are things working out with the BRE? Read the New Year message from Don Ward.

Happy new year! It was good to come back after a refreshing long break to find few new emails, so clearly most people also took the ten days off and I hope you and your families had an enjoyable time.

As promised we hit the ground running this year in our new mode with BRE, and you will see below some theme groups and other events already lined up. I am particularly looking forward to welcoming Mark Farmer and various experts to our members’ forum to discuss the vital area of offsite and pre-manufacturing. That is a month away yet – meanwhile please have a read of our #CEprocurement theme group’s blog on the implications of Brexit, and comment online on whether you agree that this could be a case of a baby and the bathwater if we are not careful – standardised and transparent procurement processes are very much required.

There are plenty of examples in our sector where the current OJEU regulations have been followed and used well to deliver a value-based procurement. Dudley College’s Advance II project featuring Integrated Project Insurance is a fine example of this – and I do commend a read of their interim case study which we published just before Christmas. This is a landmark project being monitored by ourselves with Reading University which has several CE members involved and many others following its fortunes closely, as there are plenty who believe this is an approach which can unlock the true power of collaboration and the value it delivers for the client. Check out their project webcam – I know the project team are planning some open days, and we are hoping that our #CEprocurement theme group will hold its next meeting there, so do contact us if you are interested to learn more. Meanwhile see here for the official Cabinet Office guidance on how the approach works – and let us know of any clients or projects wo could be interested in adopting this approach.