#SCAFFCON23

Registration for the event begins at 8am where you will be welcomed to the conference by the team and have an opportunity to network with other delegates and engage with the exhibitors that are in attendance. A buffet breakfast will be available upon arrival, and will include tea, coffee and bacon rolls, along with fruit skewers and smoothies for those who would like a lighter option. 

Robert Candy, Chief Executive of the UK's largest scaffolding trade body, the Scaffolding Association will open the Scaffold Conference 2022. He will welcome all delegates, exhibitors and guest speakers to this inaugural event. This will be followed by an outline of the format of the day and close with an insight into the work that he and his team are undertaking in the scaffolding and access sector.

The Holmes and Hills LLP Construction Team will deliver a know-how session in which they will review a contract and pull out the key clauses of concerns and how they may affect a scaffolding business. The floor will then be open for delegates to comment on the clauses, and the team will provide invaluable insight into many misunderstood contractual provisions from Entire Agreement Clauses through to Payment and Termination.

During this session you will hear from a panel of speakers who will be sharing with delegates the activities that they are undertaking to meet the skills challenge the scaffolding sector is facing. They will provide you with some of the practical routes they are pursuing to recruit new talent into the industry, which will be followed with an opportunity for delegates to pose questions about how they could implement these strategies within their own business. 

The growing skills gap, increased cost pressures and demanding client requirements are just a few of the increasing pressures that scaffold businesses are operating under. Tube and fitting scaffolding is the mainstay of the sector, however we are seeing an increasing number of systems and products entering the marketplace. This session will explore how the system scaffolding could offer viable solutions for some of the issues, like skills and training, that industry is facing. 

We will take a break from the agenda mid-morning for tea, coffee and biscuits. During this time you will be able to meet with the range of exhibitors that we have joining us at the conference, engage with some of our key speakers and invited guests, and network with your industry peers.

We are pleased to welcome Tim Balcon, Chief Executive of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) as our first keynote speaker of the day. Delegates will get to hear first hand about his vision for the future and how the CITB will be meeting the needs of the scaffolding sector over the next 12 months.

Our speaker will be discussing common mistakes and misconceptions around HR and employment law which can leave your business exposed to higher risks of a successful claim. This session will also include how to put your business in the best position to defend a claim for discrimination. This will be followed by some employee wellbeing and mental health tips, looking at how you can improve this and the benefits it can bring your business.

During this session our speaker Alan Roe, Managing Director of Touchstone Underwriting Limited will breakdown some of the most common insurance claims they see from scaffolding contractors and talk through some of the lessons that can be learnt from them. He will talk to delegates about the importance of good cover, and why this is something that should be high on a businesses list of commercial priorities.

National Scaffolding Week provides opportunities to highlight the achievements and innovations of organisations and individuals in the scaffolding sector. During this session we will be recognising some of the heroes of the scaffolding sector and crowning them this year's Scaff Stars!

We will break for lunch where there will be a buffet served with orange juice and mineral water. 

During this time you will be able to meet with the range of exhibitors that we have joining us at the conference, and engage with your industry peers.

Senior Traffic Commissioner Richard Turfitt will be delivering our final keynote of the day. He will be talking to delegates about their responsibilities as hauliers and the implications this has for scaffolding contracting businesses.

The Competition Appeals Tribunal recently announced that leading road transport trade association RHA was able to proceed with its collective claim on behalf of commercial vehicle operators seeking damages from the major European truck manufacturers – who were found to have operated a price-fixing cartel between 1997 and 2011. We will be welcoming Martin Dean from the Road Haulage Association’s team, to explain how delegates can get involved in this claim.

Our final session of the day will be a panel of well respected industry stakeholders discussing where they see the scaffolding industry heading, what our future challenges might be, and what we can do to address them. This open discussion will also invite questions and comments from delegates, and provide food for thought about what the future holds for our sector.

To wrap up the event Robert Candy, Chief Executive of the Scaffolding Association will recap the key points from the day's discussions and thank all of the delegates, exhibitors and guest speakers for taking the time to attend the very first scaffolding conference, and wishing you all safe travels home.