A Leamington solicitor is to head a group of future construction leaders.
Matthew Phipps, a construction solicitor at Leamington-based Wright Hassall, will chair the regional Forum for Tomorrow – a feeder group for the influential Forum for the Built Environment (FBE).
The FBE has 2,000 members across the country, and brings together the industry’s decision makers, while the Forum for Tomorrow is for up and coming construction professionals.
Mr Phipps, 32, hopes the group’s members will already have benefited from being involved.
“We started around 18 months ago – around the time the recession kicked in – so we have all seen the effects the downturn has had on the construction industry and have hopefully learnt lessons for the future,” he said.
“The purpose of this group is to bring together those with less than 10 years’ experience the industry so we can build contacts and exchange ideas– and there’s been plenty of opportunity for that so far.
“It’s been very successful in terms of members and we’ve also had some excellent talks from the likes of Urban Splash, who redeveloped Fort Dunlop, and Business Link
“I’m very pleased to become chairman. When the group started, we didn’t have too much of a structure but when we formalised our set up, I was asked if I’d take the role.
“The coming year will see the beginning of the economic recovery and so it’s going to be an exciting time again for the industry. Investment will re-emerge and projects will restart and so it should be a very interesting year for the group.”
