Speakers

John Alderman has been in the construction industry for over 20 years, working in a wide variety of fields. John started out working with large contractors moving on to leading manufacturers of specialist products. From this, John has developed a multi-skill set covering the Construction and specification industry.

Brett Amphlett is the Head of Policy & Public Affairs at the Builders Merchants’ Federation. He has over 30 years’ experience in two major supply chains - food, drink & farming and building materials’ distribution - in both private enterprise and the public service. Brett strives to turn the concept of sustainable development into reality to normalise it into mainstream thinking & business. He is a published writer and has designed & delivered training for civil servants and trade associations.Brett is the son of a SME housebuilder and lives on the Surrey/Sussex border. He is a keen music fan and if you want to get his attention, 1970s & 1980s rock, blues, soul & jazz is the easiest way to do so. The Builders Merchants’ Federation is the trade association for businesses in the building materials’ supply chain in the UK and Ireland. Since 1908, it has represented builders, plumbers & timber merchants and manufacturers who make and deliver building materials and home improvement products. The BMF’s 680 members have combined annual sales over £29 billion and employ more than 115,000 people.

Tom began his career at bespoke formulator and coatings manufacture Itac and subsequently became Product Manager for the Delvemade protective coating range Seamsil, Delcote and Delglaze. In that capacity he developed a wealth of technical support and system design knowledge which he now brings to Sharmans. In his new role as Specification Manager, Tom supports specifiers and contractors in the selection and design of repair and refurbishment systems from Sharmans full range of tried and tested systems.

Allan Barr has over 25 years of experience in working with, and selling, roofing products to the construction sector in the UK. He is the Field Sales Representative for Kytun Dry Roofing in Scotland and has secured deals with large- and small-scale partners including Keepmoat Homes. Allan has a wealth of knowledge developed from his time working with renowned roofing brands and brought that knowledge to Kytun when he joined our team two years ago. He is an expert on Dry Roofing.

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Cathie joined SPRA as CEO in October 2015. Since her appointment, Cathie has enjoyed the challenge of maintaining excellent membership services, developing and growing the SPRA community and keeping SPRA at the forefront of quality and performance. SPRA released its latest Design Guide in 2018 and Cathie’s continuing aim is to significantly increase the numbers of specifiers, clients and main contractors accessing and actively using this exceptional guidance freely available through SPRA. Cathie’s leadership and active involvement with the Construction Products Association, Build UK, the CITB and CSCS has ensured that SPRA maintains a high profile on behalf of its members and the single ply industry and has resulted in SPRA being selected onto a number of leading industry bodies concerned with Hackitt Review recommendations and CITB reform. Cathie is particularly passionate about skills and training and over the last three years has overseen the development of an industry training offer and career path that provides appropriate specialist training for installers, specifiers, supervisors and any others involved in the single ply industry. Prior to joining SPRA, Cathie was General Manager of the National Heritage Training Group; primarily developing, delivering, promoting and raising awareness of bespoke heritage construction sector skills and accredited training.

Philip specialises in health and safety defence work, regulatory and compliance advice. Philip's recent experience includes acting for various organisations subject to criminal investigations by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities following serious injuries to employees and third parties. Philip advices on product compliance issues relating to CE marking and conformance with relevant EU and domestic standards, including building product safety. Philip also prosecutes on behalf of a regulator (the MCA) in respect of environmental and safety offences which provides him with rounded experience. Eversheds Sutherland ranked in Band 1 in the Legal Directories for health and safety defence work.

Claire Curtis-Thomas graduated in Mechanical Engineering from University College, Cardiff, MBA from Aston University and an honorary PhD in Technology. She gained experience with Shell UK, followed with roles at Birmingham City Council, as Head of Corporate Affairs and Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council Laboratories, then returned to university life as Dean of the Engineering and Business Department of the University of Wales, Newport, before moving into politics when she was elected as MP for Crosby. During her time in parliament, Claire championed issues on behalf of the construction industry and sat on three select committees, and founded the Construction & Development Partnership, a charity dedicated to bringing schools and education to the children of Sierra Leone. Claire joined the BBA in 2013 and remains committed to the eradication of discrimination and breaking down the boundaries which preclude people from reaching their potential.

Jez has worked in the industry for over 15 years, mainly in the construction supply chain and on value identification and behaviour change. He is a full IEMA member, a recognised corporate influencer on Modern Slavery and a FIR Ambassador

Nick Day is a member of the Institute of Roofing and has worked in the roofing industry in a technical and sales capacity for over 30 years. Originally specialising in roof waterproofing, for the past 6 years Nick has worked for Optigreen. Nick is also actively involved with GRO (Green Roof Organisation) and as such has sat on several technical committees developing green roof product and specification guidelines

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With more than 30 years’ experience of the roofing industry, Paul Franklin is the LRWA’s technical secretary. Paul was formerly a consultant at RAM Consultancy, a specialist roof testing company. Prior to that, he spent nine years at the Flat Roofing Alliance as technical manager, gaining extensive trade association experience. Throughout his career, Paul has helped to write British Standards, HSE (health and safety) references and training manuals, and has represented the UK roofing industry on the CEN committee (European Committee for Standardisation).

Mark French is Group head of safety, health and environment for Willmott Dixon Holdings and he attributes his work ethic to his time in the British Army. Following a successful 23 year career in the military travelling the world completing construction and civil engineering projects in conflict zones and disaster relief, his natural progression was a career in construction. Mark joined Willmott Dixon in 2005, soon becoming the Group Head of SHE. Since then Mark has changed the perception of health and safety in the business, nurturing a transformational culture where everyone values health and safety for the right reasons.

Dusty is a green infrastructure consultant working in London, UK and Europe. He is the current current President of the European Federation of Green Roof Associations (EFB) and founder of Livingroofs.org, Though he has a particular interest in biodiversity and urban nature, his work in the built environment is focused on climate resilience and the promotion of greener cities through multi-functional green infrastructure. Dusty Gedge is a recognised authority, designer, consultant and public speaker on green roofs and urban green infrastructure. He has worked on GI Projects in the UK for the last 20 years. Some of these are recognised as seminal projects especially in London through his consultancy firm Green Infrastructure Consultancy [GIC]. He has also a published author and has been instrumental in writing strategic reports on green roofs and green infrastructure. He has also been a TV presenter, and a recognized on speaker at conferences and events around the world

Paul has sold into the construction industry for many years and has a wealth of knowledge of construction management processes, regulations and initiatives. He knows how to best help companies get the most out of a digital platform to enable them to achieve what they desire. His AEC software knowledge spans the sector from CAD systems to Civil Engineering software.

Martyn Halliwell has been a member of the Permavent team since 2011 and is responsible for sales and technical support for Permavent. With over 15 years of experience in the roofing and building industry Martyn is passionate about quality and innovation in the roofing. Martyn played an instrumental part in the development of the Permavent Easy Roof system for which the company was awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise in 2014.

In his early career Josh trained as a marine engineer before moving into the construction industry where he subsequently worked as a contracts manager for fourteen years for an industrial building refurbishment company specifying, designing and delivering building envelope solutions. He then joined Sharmans as a Technical Services Manager in 2015 utilising his knowledge of roofing systems to work with specifiers and contractors provides to support for the design and installation of Sharmans market leading Plygene Gutterline system. In his new role as Specification Manager, Josh supports specifiers and contractors in the selection and design of repair and refurbishment systems from Sharmans full range of tried and tested systems.

Pauric has been involved in business for over 15 years before joining the team at Kytun Dry Roofing Products. Previously working in various sectors, he has a strong focus on sales and marketing. He joined Kytun over three years ago as the National Sales Manager. Since the new regulations of BS5534 & BS612 were introduced, the Kytun team has grown over 50% to cater for the UK market. Pauric is part of the Institute of Roofing and has worked on various high-end projects to dates.

Mark Jenkins has been working with SIPs for over a decade. He possesses a wealth of knowledge in their design, engineering and fabrication.

Having been involved in the construction supply chain since 1980, Peter Johnson established Vivalda in 1999. Now the UK’s largest independent distributor and fabricator of high performance architectural facade systems, the business has a turnover of £34m and employs more than 100 people across eight locations in the UK and Ireland. Vivalda is associated with world-leading brands such as Marley Eternit, Equitone, Trespa, Rockpanel and Cembrit. As a pioneer in the provision of products and services to the UK’s burgeoning off-site fabrication sector, Vivalda has recently worked on several major construction projects where just-in-time delivery, precision manufactured parts and other supply chain techniques have played a key role.

Prior to founding IRT, Stewart spent five years as an architectural technician and a further five years in flat roof specification sales for Bauder. IRT has become the largest infrared building surveying company in the UK, has attracted investment from Centrica to help develop it services and surveyed over 300,000 properties in its 17 year history.

Shaun has worked in the flat roofing sector throughout his professional career. Beginning as a naive administrator at a commercial roofing contractor, he developed to an estimator and eventually to Sales and Marketing Manager for the group. After taking the Institute of Roofing’s AIoR course, Shaun found a passion for the more technical side of roofing and eventually moved to a manufacturer in 2012. Since then, Shaun has developed a technical department and along with the help of his team, has introduced an array of technical support services. Shaun is actively involved in the SPRA technical committee, attends the NFRC’s joint flat roofing and reinforced bitumen membrane technical committees.

Rob Martin is an experienced and knowledgeable Trade Manager at cmostores.com. He has spent all his career working in construction and is lucky to have supplied materials for projects all over the country. He loves seeing an interesting build come to completion and even better is when he can help a contractor to overcome a difficult situation.

Sarah has more than ten years’ experience of working in external affairs. Sarah spent the majority of her career with two of the most high-profile trade associations in the UK construction industry. She started her career at the Construction Products Association and is now Director of External Affairs at the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). At the FMB, Sarah has overall responsibility for the organisation’s UK-wide external affairs activities, including public affairs, policy, media relations and events, and oversees the regional and devolved Hub Directors. Sarah is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

Richard Miller is Head of Qualifications & Standards at the NFRC and is leading the RoofCERT accreditation programme. He was previously Director of Practical Construction Solutions. Richard began his career as an apprentice working in Built Up Felt roofing on multiple roofing contracts across England and Scotland. Using this experience, he joined the CITB in a range of roles that included NVQ Assessor and Internal Quality Assurance Supervisor. As CITB’s Assessment & Verification Manager, he was responsible for the quality assurance of assessment and training delivery in the National Construction Colleges and National Specialist Accredited Centre.

Kirsty Phillips is the Training & Marketing Manager at Gully Howard Technical. After serving ten years in the Royal Navy, she has progressed her career into marketing & training; developing training that tackles the issues which affect learning, such as lack of time and budget. Despite not being in the asbestos industry very long, she has learnt a lot about the impact of asbestos on people. Her role at GHT is wide-ranging; by utilising her breadth of experience across different areas, she is well positioned to be able to use her skills to increase asbestos awareness through various campaigns and methods.

Joscelyne is Executive Director of Mates in Mind, an industry charity striving to improve mental wellbeing in the construction sector by promoting environments of positive mental wellbeing. Prior to this, Joscelyne was an Executive Director at the British Safety Council where she was Head of Policy and held responsibility for HR, Awards and Events. Before moving to the British Safety Council, Joscelyne was a consultant providing health, safety and environmental risk communication, management and performance measurement services. Joscelyne has a MSc from Lund University, Sweden, in environmental policy and economics, and an BA (Hons) in Environmental & Geographical Science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

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Dylan Skelhorn worked as a Solid Fuel Heating Engineer for a small firm specialising in chimney and roofing work. In 2011 he was servicing a chimney when the stack collapsed and Dylan fell from 33 feet, landing on a brick wall sustaining severe multiple injuries. He broke his pelvis, ribs and punctured a lung. Dylan now takes a cocktail of drugs everyday to help control his pain and have never been able to return to physical work. Dylan founded his own company, Safety Up, in 2014 and has been working as a Safety Ambassador for Wilmott Dixon since 2017.

James Talman became chief executive of the NFRC in 2015, leading the UK’s largest roofing trade federation in its mission to promote technical excellence among members and the wider industry. He was previously CEO of SPRA, helping to drive up standards in that discipline. James began his career in the automotive sector, before entering the cladding and single ply roofing sectors. James is committed to raising standards across the roofing sector, improving the recognition of those who follow this path, while ensuring the industry is attractive for new entrants. He was elected to the board of Build UK in 2018, where he provides a voice for roofing within the wider construction industry.

Tom’s early career started with the Rifles regiment of the British Army, serving time in Iraq, Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. After leaving the army Tom took the decision to enter the roofing trade, first as a labourer and then as an apprentice enrolled with South West Roof Training Group, where an inspirational tutor pushed him to achieve his full potential and put him forward to the Redland Apprentice of the Year. Tom is now a roofing slater and tiler for Roundway Roofing and believes that anyone can get where they want to be with a little hard work and great support.

Marc van der Voort has three decades of international experience in the development and production of technical textiles and protective membranes for the construction industry. He has been a consultant in the development and revisions of UK flame retardant standards for temporary containment.

Kevin has been a member of the Marley Alutec team for almost a quarter of a century, establishing a reputation as a solution provider. In 2005, during his time as an area sales manager, he initiated the design and introduction of rainwater diverters for aluminium rainwater pipes into the UK market. For the last eight years he has been working as a category manager for Evoke, working on the product, sales and marketing development aspects of the range. He has facilitated more than 200 CPD seminars.

As one of the founders of SPV Group, Kate Whatley has held the position of Commercial Director at SPV Group for the last 12 years. Kate has overall responsibility for all Commercial and Financial aspects of the business as well as responsibility for sales and marketing, community liaison and business development. Kate is very passionate about her job and the roofing industry as a whole. Having achieved a BA Hons Degree in Business Management at The University of Sheffield, a NEBOSH qualification and various other safety accolades, Kate is passionate about her continued professional development and as such is currently the Vice Chair of the Midlands Region of The Institute of Roofing. Kate is also an active Director of Women In Roofing and feels very strongly about the opportunities for and the visibility of Women in the Roofing Industry.

Dr Mike Wiseman (Ph.D., M.Sc., MIET, ProfGradIMMM, B.Sc.(Hons)) is the Team Manager in the British Board of Agrément (BBA) Construction Products Certification team, with a focus on above and below ground waterproofing, paints and finishes. An established medical engineer Mike has worked on the development of novel materials and manufacturing process of their application helping to drive innovation and development in the construction sector. Working in the BBA for over 6 years, Mike’s role also encompasses audits of manufacturing factories, Quality Control and durability assessments of installed roofs. In his spare time, he is a passionate advocate of alternative energy, working in the biodiesel industry while also constructing photovoltaic panels and wind turbines.

Technical training manager for BMI UK & Ireland covering pitched and flat roofing in the UK and Ireland. Over the last seven years Matheau has managed the development and delivery of BMI UK & Ireland. Taking a lead in training the industry in chnaged to British Standards such as BS 6229 and the recent introduction of BS 8612. Working closely with the NFRC, Matheau currently sits on the RoofCert Standards Committee, helping to design the framework for a new professional accreditation scheme for roofers in the UK.