Our CECA South West Members’ Meeting was held on Wednesday 27th March at Sandy Park.
Over fifty people were in the room and our five speakers gave informative and engaging presentations.
Speakers on the day were:
Matt Hodson, Chief Operations Officer of Celtic Sea Power (pictured above) explained about the important green energy initiative for the newly proposed offshore wind farm in the Celtic Sea off the North Devon and Cornish coast. He outlined potential construction opportunities at ports around the SW coastline to facilitate wind turbine assembly and floatation out to sea. View Matt’s presentation Celtic – CECA Presentation_250323
Devon County Council’s Rob Richards (Deputy Director Highways and Infrastructure Development), Mo Hurley (Virtual School Area Learning Advocate), John Lewis (Personal Advisor, Education, Training & Employment), Richard Mold (Youth Offending Officer) and Mike Blakeley of Exeter College spoke about the education, employment and training of all 16 – 25 year old ‘Looked After Children’ in care by the Council. They encouraged members to support the LAC initiative and work with the Council to create employment opportunities for these young people. View their presentation DCC 20240305_ CECA Event_Care Experinced Opportunities_no notes
Ashley Webber, Director of Balanced Energy spoke to members on how to deliver on their net zero ambitions, for example by helping them produce their own Carbon Reduction Plan. View Ashley’s presentation Balanced Energy Sustainable Futures Navigating Carbon Management in UK Civil Construction
Bridgwater & Taunton College’s Jeanette Turner and John Wake (both Business & Relationship Managers) and Ian Augar (Infrastructure Skills Manager) gave members an overview of the excellent training facilities available at the college’s Construction Skills & Innovation Centre in Cannington which boasts an extensive external practical training area – ideal for groundworker and plant operator apprenticeships. View their presentation B&T CSIC Centre Presentation 1
Lindsay Lucas, Senior Digital Consultant from Cosmic gave a brief outline of the Digital Leadership Course and explained the benefits of signing up. Mark Ellis from Bridge attended last year’s course and he joined Lindsay to relate in practical terms how he has used this knowledge within the workplace. Following the success of last year’s training, we will be hosting a further FREE Digital Leadership Course for SMEs run by Cosmic. This will take place in our Exeter office over five one day sessions ,held monthly beginning in May. View the presentation and sign up using the QR code at the end of the presentation Digital Leadership Programme – CECA_March2024