Happy New Year! Most of you will already be well and truly stuck into the work routine after the seasonal festivities and you might be dealing with the same issues you wrestled with before Christmas, or perhaps facing new ones. But, the latest national news once again places our industry in the spotlight.

Flooding across the UK highlights that the right level of investment and planning allows construction professionals, especially engineers to make our communities safer and our environments more sustainable. Delays and worries about infrastructure projects highlighted by the National Audit Office are clear reminders that the concepts of CEW and Constructing Excellence as a whole are still as valid as ever. Educating clients, pulling together integrated teams and focussing on whole life targets delivers great schemes in time and in budget and alleviates many of the NAO concerns. Housing remains one of the ever present issues – whether it is how affordable a home is, the issue of social housing, rents and landlords versus the right to buy or simply where to build and the planning process.

In all of these areas construction and most importantly construction professionals have a part to play in explaining to the press, pundits and end users how best things can be resolved. Construction remains the great enabler. It is a force for good and if we as a group of stakeholders can continue to educate, inform and demonstrate real evidence the best practice works – then that must be a resolution for 2016 well worth sticking to.