Bob Hall, President, ECA

Inaugural address

The 2007 conference was opened by ECA President Bob Hall, who began by acknowledging the great responsibility and commitment involved in representing the interests and aspirations of all members of the Association.

Setting the scene for the conference business agenda, Bob addressed, among other things; industry-wide advances in technology, the effects of increasing globalisation, the rise of sustainability in the public consciousness, and the matter of skills shortages.

He went on to discuss the past year – a year in which, he said, a number of visible achievements had been made within the industry, including:

• the ECA becoming a certification body in its own right with the acquisition of Elecsa Ltd
• the establishment of a new Fire and Security Association
• the ECA’s acquisition of TrustMark accreditation
• stronger links being developed between the ECA and HVCA.

Bob also looked at the key issue of training, raising the question of where tomorrow’s technicians, engineers, designers, quantity surveyors and managers will come from if the correct training infrastructure does not remain in place. “That”, he added, “is where the skill shortage is really going to hit us, and I wonder if we are even recognising it, let alone doing enough about it...”

Click here to download Bob’s full speech.

Return to 2007 overview and speakers.