Roughly 130 people from the construction sector were present at the first event of its kind organised by the co-founders of the Skilled Trades Network (STN), Pamela Cunningham and her husband Ross.

The trades represented there included heating and plumbing, steel works, internal finishes, renewable energy, roofing and property maintenance.

The event saw guest speakers Laura McGuigan of Kier Construction, Kenny Clark of Balfour Beatty and Kenneth Martin of Block Architects, as well as Heather O’Donnell and Daniella Bryans from the Scottish Procurement Alliance.

A number of workshops also went ahead at the Dakota Eurocentral, exploring subjects such as bidding, cash flow, accreditations and commercial management.

Pamela, a former Tier 1 procurement manager, said: “This was a real team effort, from our guest speakers, exhibitors and workshop hosts to every attendee who took time away from their business to grow their network and learn more about commercial contracting.”

Feedback was gathered from those who attended, with 90% saying they made new connections on the day and 96% finding something their business needed to work on to boost its commercial ability. 

Pamela also said: “The success of our first Meet The Contractor event shows just how keen construction SMEs are to develop their businesses and access bigger opportunities.

“Given how well it went, we aim to make it an annual event.”

Pamela added: “We’re at a challenging point as an industry where we need more skilled resource[s] and greater capacity across the supply chain.

“I firmly believe we can make a real impact by investing in and upskilling smaller businesses, giving them the commercial capability to take on more work, grow sustainably and play a bigger role in delivering the projects our industry needs.”