Invited by Niall Trafford, CEO of BRE (Building Research Establishment), Nicola Barclay, chief executive of Homes for Scotland and Rohan Bush, head of public partnerships & future workforce at Construction Scotland Innovation Centre will be invited to offer opening remarks before the conversation is opened up to the table.

The key topics of the debate will include: Are the challenges faced by Scotland’s construction sector, consistent with those across the UK? Are ‘faster and cheaper’ the right priorities for the construction sector in Scotland?  And how can Scotland engage with UK-wide initiatives such as the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund? (ISCF). Niall Trafford will host and open the debate with Alan Somerville, BRE’s building performance group director, and David Kelly, the company’s Scotland and innovation parks director, also on the event panel. 

They will be joined by:

• Provocateur: Nicola Barclay, chief executive, Homes for Scotland: Nicola has direct responsibility for running Homes for Scotland, the national membership organisation providing a voice for the new homes building industry in Scotland.
• Provocateur: Rohan Bush, head of public partnerships and future workforce, Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC): Rohan has responsibility for leading, developing and delivering a range of public sector stakeholder and future workforce partnerships.
• Chair: Matthew Gwyther, partner, Jericho Chambers.

Participants will also include:

• Graeme Brown, director, Shelter Scotland: Graeme has been the director of Shelter Scotland since July 2008 and headed communications, policy and campaigns for Shelter UK. He has experience working as an independent consultant at the Home Office, the Rough Sleepers Unit at the Department of the Environment, the Social Exclusion Unit in the Cabinet Office and a number of NGOs.
• Stuart Dorward, partner & Scottish head - Cushman and Wakefield: Stuart is responsible for all commercial and operational aspects of the Scottish Business Unit and specialises in project management and delivery strategy in the corporate occupier and technology sectors.
• Ian Drummond, managing director, Taylor Wimpey: Ian was appointed as managing director of Taylor Wimpey East Scotland in 2017 and is based at the Dunfermline office, with current developments of new homes across Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians.
• Susan Grant, principal architect, NHS National Services Scotland: A chartered architect, with over 25 years’ experience in the design and delivery of healthcare facilities. Susan supports the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate, NHS Scotland and Boards by providing professional leadership and technical/management advice in all aspects of property, capital planning and design.

BRE is hosting a series of invitation-only influencer roundtables around the UK. This is the second in the series. A podcast and summary of the last roundtable which was held in London, can be found here.