New chairman for CECA Midlands

Ron Pinfield, managing director of Currall, Lewis and Martin Construction, is the new chairman of CECA (Civil Engineering Contractors Association) Midlands, a role he will hold for the next two years.

He steps up from vice chairman and replaces Nigel Drew, of R&C Williams, who held the position for three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Steve Lilly, of Morgan Sindall, is the new vice chairman.

Mr Pinfield takes up the position just a few weeks after CECA Midlands appointed a new director to lead the organisation as Lorraine Gregory joined from the Construction Industry Training Board.

CECA Midlands supports its members – including everything from the biggest civil engineering and construction firms in the region through to smaller, niche contractors – with training, networking and up-to-the-minute information.

The organisation also provides a voice for members to key decision-makers, including Central Government, both directly and through the national CECA office in London.

Mr Pinfield said: “I have to thank Nigel Drew for his leadership of the organisation over the past three years, which has been a hugely challenging term for him with the arrival of Covid-19 and national lockdowns.

“Despite all of the adversity we’ve faced as an industry – and indeed as a country – Nigel and the team have helped to lay extremely solid foundations as I take up this role.

“The people and the businesses in this sector do incredible work and face up to new challenges every day. We never shy away from them and always come up with solutions to ensure we get the job done.

“That is what we have all had to do in the past couple of years and I proud of the work CECA Midlands has done to help our members right across the region.

“My ambition for my tenure is to support the delivery of a bigger and dynamic service from CECA, to continue to support industry as it evolves and as it continues to deal with external factors such as current world events.

“The Covid-19 restrictions have gone, but we are now faced with new challenges that affect us all on a day-to-day basis. I want us all to work together as we face up to those challenges head-on.”

Over the past year, CECA Midlands has helped to train 948 delegates – an increase of 202. It has also seen an increase in hours of training delivered from 4,055 in 2020 to 6,752 in 2021; and has developed a soon-to-be-launched Social Value toolkit led by its Foundations Group.

Mr Drew said: “It has been a rollercoaster, to say the least, and I am proud of the way CECA Midlands – and all of our members – really stepped up and faced the challenges of Covid-19.

“I know as an industry the support of CECA with our regular briefings, up-to-date information and training was invaluable and as a result we have come out of that period stronger as an industry which can adjust to uncertainty and continue to deliver.

“I know Ron will do a fantastic job in continuing to drive forward the organisation alongside our recently appointed director, Lorraine Gregory.

“It has been an honour to hold this role to ensure that we serve civil engineering contractors of all sizes across our region during an unprecedented time – one that none of us will forget or want to go through again.”