News

Inspire the next generation is number one wish of RICS members

Against a background of increasing uncertainty in the industry over recent months, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has asked some of its accredited professionals what their top wishes are for 2017. 

When asked, RICS members engaged in UK infrastructure said that their number one wish was to "inspire the next generation". 

David Ferroussat, infrastructure procurement director at Heathrow, said: “I would like to see all construction-related professional bodies be more visible in their collaboration together to create an innovative industry that can attract and grow the next generation of construction professionals.”

Unsurprisingly, given the upcoming enactment of article 50 to withdraw the UK from the European Union, the second most popular wish for RICS members engaged in infrastructure was to "position the UK as a global player".

Referring to this, Mike Fuhr, senior advisor, former commercial advisor to the Department for Transport investment committee and sponsor for Crossrail and HS1, said: “I would like to see an increased profile for the UK infrastructure delivery industry so it can become an innovative contributor to the global supply chain over the next 10-20 years. If I could make one thing happen for infrastructure in 2017, it would be to start to create the conditions in which some UK infrastructure suppliers could rise to become global players.”

Given that success within infrastructure is often dependent upon continued progress and innovation that sets firms apart from others in the field, the third most common wish for 2017 from RICS members was to "be more creative".

Costain commercial director Andy Dixon commented: "I would like to see greater diversity across the industry and would also like to see an increase in creativity and curiosity in future projects. I’d like to take the ten smartest people we have and put them into a critique-free research and development environment for the whole year and see what they develop."

While the year ahead is currently a blank canvas, many in the industry will be hoping that 2017 will yield positive progress for those working in infrastructure. RICS members will be hoping that that their wishes to "inspire the next generation", "position the UK as a global player" and to "be more creative" will come to fruition.