Welsh Finance Minister launches B&ES Wales
The Building & Engineering Services Association now has a set-up in Wales following the launch of B&ES Wales. The formal launch was at The Sennedd, the Cardiff home of the National Assembly of Wales, during an event hosted by assembly member Jane Hutt, Minister for Finance in the Welsh Government.
Chairman of B&ES Wales, which has a membership of some 80 firms, is Mike McDonald, Commercial Manager at Ecofit Energy Systems.
On the agenda for B&ES Wales is the implementation of the Welsh Government’s construction procurement strategy, in particular the recommendations it contains on project bank accounts, the early involvement of the supply chain, public-sector pre-qualification reform and the introduction of the Supplier Qualification Information Database (SQuID), which resulted from the Government-commissioned McClellant report.
Jane Hutt confirmed that tackling late payment in the construction supply chain was a key priority for the Welsh Government and condemned the ‘unfair practices’ that undermined confidence among specialist contractors. She pledged to work with the B&ES to extend the use of project bank accounts in public-sector projects to provide sub-contractors with greater security of payment.
