SELECT’s Annual Report highlights another year of good progress

  Posted by: electime      3rd June 2019

SELECT, the campaigning body for the electrotechnical industry in Scotland, is reporting another successful year of parliamentary progress, increase in its training reach and continued membership growth.

The organisation has met and addressed the challenge of the introduction at the start of the year of the new BS7671 (18th edition) and Alan Wilson, who was recently appointed as Managing Director of SELECT, said that demand for training, especially on the new regulations had been unprecedented, with more than 60 courses delivered since January.

SELECT has also been in the forefront of preparation for wider technological changes with a range of new training courses including the installation of electrical vehicle charging points.

Keeping members up to speed with, and ahead of, changes in the industry has once again been a primary focus for SELECT which is now recognised as one of the foremost electrical training organisations in the country.

The body has also maintained its long-running campaign to regulate the industry by introducing Protection of Title and Mr Wilson said: “This has been the focal point of much of our work over the year.

“After a debate in Holyrood last October, the Scottish Government subsequently issued a Call for Evidence to gauge the level of support for some form of regulatory action and Jamie Halcro Johnson, MSP, is now working with us on a Member’s Bill.”

The Annual Report also highlighted that much still needs to be done to change the culture of the construction sector and noted that a number of businesses had failed over the year as a result of late and reduced payment and withholding of retentions.

SELECT recognised that the decision by the Scottish Government to reduce the threshold at which Project Bank Accounts apply (now £2m) would assist in ensuring earlier payment for Members, but suggested that Holyrood needs to act as an exemplar client by taking affirmative action on late payments and retentions.

Mr. Wilson said: “SELECT has been proactive in putting forward the industry’s case that retentions need to be ring-fenced to protect them from upstream insolvency.”

SELECT’s 1250 member companies account for the majority of electrical installation work carried out in Scotland and provide employment for 15,000 people.

The organisation helps to shape the market environment by representing the industry to all levels of government and helps influence legislation to create industry conditions which enable member firms to provide a quality service and maintain profitability.

For more information please contact Alan Wilson, Managing Director at SELECT, the Electrical Contractors’ Association of Scotland, The Walled Garden, Bush Estate, Midlothian, EH26 0SB. T:  0131 445 5577. F: 0131 445 5548. E: admin@select.org.uk. W: www.select.org.uk

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