Next Friday, 12th June, is one of the biggest events in the Welsh construction calendar. Many of you will have entered the 2015 CEW Awards and some of you might be attending the evening at Celtic Manor.

Everyone has a key role in the success of Welsh construction and the CEW Awards are a chance to celebrate that work, but also join in some mutual appreciation for each other and our respective supply chain partners, customers, consultants and – let’s not forget – the communities affected by Welsh construction. Next week we will make a special mention of the back bone of Welsh construction, the thousands of SMEs up and down the country. But if it was not for the ongoing commitment of organisations such as our headline sponsors Network Rail, Costain and ABC Electrification the pipeline of business for many suppliers, specialists and local contractors would not flow nearly as fast as it is necessary.

That is also why it is worth celebrating the fact that Abergavenny-based Alun Griffiths Ltd is the preferred bidder for civils work on the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon. It is also worth celebrating that work generally – as indicated by CECA’s Q1 survey – appears to be improving and our industry is at long last in not just decent shape, but strong and robust.

So, now is the time to adhere more than ever to the principles of best practice and use the lessons learned and shared by CEW Award winners (past and the new ones next week) to build a stronger construction sector and a better Welsh built environment.