Often it is the bigger projects that steal the glory when we come to celebrate Welsh construction. On Friday we saw once again that our industry is setting a benchmark for the UK when construction schemes, leaders and organisations in Wales won three of the national Constructing Excellence Awards on Friday evening.

The teams on the Harbour Way Port Talbot peripheral distributor road, Ysgol Yr Hendre school and Vince Hanly the Service Director for Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council are all great examples of what makes Welsh construction great – but the spine of our industry is the thousands of small and medium sized contractors, designers, engineers and suppliers throughout Wales.

That is why the Wales Small Capital Investment Grant is so important to our sector. It is the SMEs in construction that will deliver the majority of works in the country; it is them that will refurbish and improve the energy performance of our housing stock and it is these organisations that the major contractors will look to for critical local support. But often they are low down the pecking order and consequently their cash flow suffers – help with capital expenditure is a lifeline to many. So remember, size does matter and big is not necessarily beautiful.