Sometimes everyone needs reminding not to take themselves for granted. On Tuesday, we decided to remind Welsh Government and other public sector clients not to take construction for granted when we held an event celebrating the CEW Awards at the Senedd. Hosted by Mick Antoniw AM, it was a great chance to showcase CEW Award winners as well as our demonstration projects – including the Senedd – and also mix with some of the other organisations we work closely with, such as ICE, RSAW, RICS, LABC.

In fact, we might run the event annually now, but it will need to be bigger and better as a couple of hours in which to showcase everything that is good about construction in Wales probably will not be long enough. The feedback we received from the 74 delegates on Tuesday has been excellent. I know that the other AMs who attended, including Julie James, Joyce Watson and Jeff Cuthbert will pass on how much they learned about Welsh construction. It was also great to see influencers and opinion formers from Government and Value Wales mixing with our councils, consultants, Energy Saving Trust and industry groups such as the FMB.

But what we need now is action. Tuesday gave CEW a platform to deliver our message – now we need to cajole and shape individuals and groups to give our industry what it needs to deliver what the country requires: a clear pipeline of work, a coherent strategy for infrastructure and a commitment to collaborative working. Once that’s achieved, then we can really celebrate.