CPA Bulletin

8 CPA Bulletin > November 2021 www.cpa.uk.net ASSOCIATIONNEWS: 1 ASSOCIATION NEWS cpa conference 2021 There were perhaps two main reasons why interest was so strong in the CPA Conference 2021 held on 14 October at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre near Coventry. First, many of the 130-plus delegates from throughout the supply chain commented on how delighted they were to be at a live, face-to-face event post-lockdown. Genuine networking again! And second, the subject matter could hardly have been more topical. Split into morning and afternoon sessions, the Conference explored two themes under the overall umbrella of ‘The Challenge of Change for the Plant Sector’, one focused on achieving Net Zero Carbon, the other addressing Digitalisation and its benefits, particularly in a post-Covid world. Each session comprised two round-table discussions amongst industry professionals, convened by Merryn Myatt , a former BBC news presenter who now specialises in media management. Guiding the debate along a number of key areas, she had obviously done much prior research into the subjects. Opening the Conference, CPA Policy Manager Chris Cassley emphasised the need to change working practices, but pointed out that plant hirers had already shown they could do so in response to Covid-19. “The pandemic is testament to the industry’s ability to evolve, sometimes overnight, rallying to the cause of creating the national critical care temporary hospitals throughout the country, as well as the coronavirus testing facilities.” Similarly, hirers and contractors had earlier adapted existing technologies and adopted new ones, such as BIM (building information modelling), achieving considerable cost savings and quality improvements. Chris said, however, that Covid had also shown how vulnerable we are to events beyond our control and that this was true with climate change – unless we all took action to deal with rising global temperatures, increasing winter rainfall and decreased summer precipitation, and controlling carbon emissions. All sectors had to respond and work together to achieve results and to ensure that the Government’s slogan ‘Build back better’ doesn’t just become ‘Greening gradually’. The first of the two Net Zero sessions discussed ‘Why Net Zero Matters - The Role of the Plant-Hire Sector in Driving Change’. Participants included Fergus Harradence who leads the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on sponsorship of the infrastructure, construction and rail sector; Tom Thackray , the CBI’s Programme Director for Decarbonisation; David Emery , Digital and Offsite Construction Specialist with the Supply Chain Sustainability School; Dr Carl Desouza , a post-doctoral research associate of Imperial College London whose work involved assessing emissions from non-road machinery; and Paul Mabey , National Accounts Manager with JCB who is responsible for the manufacturer’s electric machines. By way of context, Fergus Harradence said that the UK Government’s plan to be net zero carbon by 2050 included the challenging goal of achieving a 68% reduction by 2030 compared against a 1990 base level, rising to 78% by 2035. He said that ConstructZero, the construction sector’s response to the government’s 10-point plan for a ‘green revolution’ published in November 2020 Going Green, Doing Digital Alan Guthrie reviews CPA’s Conference 2021 which discussed major challenges affecting the hire industry and really set the agenda for ongoing debate and discussion. Above all, it highlighted the need for collaboration amongst all stakeholders. HELD IN ASSOCIATIONWITH: