54
MARCH-APRIL 2015
d
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ASSOCIATIONS
Presidential change at theNFDC
TheNational Federation of Demolition Contractors held its Annual General Meeting at the
Dorchester Hotel in London on FridayMarch 13. Themeeting saw the biannual succession
of office bearers, withMartinWilson taking over the chain of office fromWilliam Sinclair.
Martinwas in turn succeeded as vice president by Andrew Forshaw, with Paul Brown
stepping into his post of second vice president.
The event was also the stage for theNFDC to recognise the skills of individual and
corporatemembers, with a number of 2015Awards bestowed onworthy recipients. Full
details are available on theNFDCwebsite, but in brief the winners were as follows.
■
Demolition Operative:
John Carpenter of Central Demolition Ltdwith a Highly
Commended to QuincyMofford of Maylarch Environmental Ltd
■
Demolition Plant Operative:
Jason Davey of Tilley &Barrett
■
DemolitionManager:
Kevin Brooks of Connell Brothers with a Highly Commended to
Paul Sharkey, Dem-Master Demolition Ltd
■
Demoltion Innovation – Corporate:
Erith Group Ltd
■
Demolition Innovation – ISP:
Komatsu UK Ltdwith a Highly Commended to Swanton
Consulting Ltd
■
Demolition Training:
ARDemolition Ltd
■
Demolition Industry Achievement
: JohnWoodward
■
Investing in Skills for aNewGeneration:
Liebherr-Great Britain Ltd
■
Asbestos Removal Operative:
Ade Parreira of Erith Group Ltdwwith a Highly
Commended to: Gary Beach of Maylarch Environmental Ltd
■
Man of the Year Award:
William Sinclair of Safedem
Finally, as reported in the news in this issue, a Lifetime Achievement Awardwas present
to David Sinclair in recognition of his services to the UK and global industry overmore than
40 years.
IncomingNFDC presidentMartinWilson
flanked by vice president Andrew Forshaw (r)
and second vice president Paul Brown (l)
timeone from theUSA)
and some 95 sponsoring
companieswere in
attendance. The event
always features apacked
programme and this year
was no exception, with17 technical (in some
cases highly technical) presentations being
madeover the courseof theday.
Onewas of particular note, and thatwas
fromEDAgeneral secretary JoseBlanco,
who’s topic is one thatwill impact the
industryEU-wide. Jose spoke about the
forthcoming requirement for anprofessional
competency card system thatwill become
mandatory for all ‘trades’- the classification
thedemolition industry falls under according
to theCommission - thatwill allow a citizen
of amember state towork as a recognised
competent person in anyothermember
countryof theEU. There arenodoubt going
tobemajor challenges ahead for the industry
inEurope to establish a system thatwill
meet theCommission’s requirementswhile
still respecting thediffering training and
evaluationprocesses that are already inplace
inmanymember states!
■
EDA general secretary JoseBlanco outlined the
challenge the industry faces from the introduction
of an EU-wide ‘competency’ card
The Deutscher Abbruchverband’s Andreas Pocha
opens proceedings at Berlin’s Hotel Intercontinental
TheBerlin event once again proved to be the largest
annual gathering of demolition professionals, with
more than 750 delegates attending
