Brian's Blog

The best networking event of the year

April 2009

Yesterday I attended the Construction Product Association spring luncheon along with several customers and several hundred senior managers from the building industry. Some might ask “why in times of recession and cost cutting did we feel it was appropriate to attend the event?” There were several reasons for attending.

Firstly it is a great opportunity to sit down with some of our key customers and find out from the horses mouth how they are managing in these difficult times. It's also good to hear from them how well we are meeting their needs.

Secondly the luncheon is probably the best networking event of the year and provides a great opportunity to gain a wider view of how the industry is coping in very difficult times.

Thirdly it was an opportunity to listen to Vince Cable the Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor, someone who I have grown to admire via Question Time, Have I Got News for You and various radio slots. I doubt if I've met anyone who doesn't admire his forthright views on the economy and generally agree with his thoughts on how we might address the current economic crisis. Vince was in great form speaking at the event and explained in very simple terms the issues that the country faced and some of the remedies needed to get us out of this mess. He also talked of the need for all political parties to work together so that the best ideas and solutions are implemented rather than being lost in political arguments. Personally I've never voted Lib Dem and I'm highly unlikely to change my voting preferences; however you can put me down as a big fan of the member for Twickenham.

Talking of fans there are literally hundreds of thousands of football fans going through what Sir Alex Ferguson calls "squeaky bum time" at present. With all sorts of championship, promotion and relegation issues to be resolved in the next few weeks.

I'm one of those going through the roller coaster of emotions with Sunderland just above the relegation zone in the Premiership. Last weeks result against West Brom was awful and the players should be ashamed at their level of performance. I'm hopeful that the Everton players will have their minds on the FA cup final when we play them on Sunday and that we can secure the three points that will take us a lot closer to retaining our Premiership status. Fingers crossed.