Strategic Projects

Strategic projects enable us to provide strategic leadership to the sector.  We maintain a vital role as an independent and collaborative catalyst, powerfully positioned between key businesses, government agencies/bodies and trade bodies, and we add real value without knowingly duplicating others.  We also ensure the strongest voice for the industry by identifying and influencing key emerging local, regional and national policies that will affect our operating environment

SECBE provides insights into market opportunities and helps businesses to look beyond their immediate pressures and to reposition for long-term success.  We highlight strategic issues, identify market trends or business opportunities and promote best practice

We identify the sector' s immediate and long term priority needs - but there's a difference between what's required to drive the industry forward and what business can and are able to pay for.  We will inform where there is lack of awareness and address market failure where we can

South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)

SECBE is one of 7 Sector Consortia established to promote the economic growth of the region. Construction and the built environment is one of the largest sectors, and one that has an impact on most of the other consortia members

SEEDA understands that its businesses that win market share and create wealth, not governments or economic development agencies, so it invests in sector vehicles, puts businesses in the driving seat and tasks them with driving their industries forward

As part of this project SECBE:

Helps SME's to compete

• Offering insights into future market trends and business opportunities via quarterly briefings to highlight strategic issues. This helps companies to look beyond their immediate pressures and reposition for long-term success
• Facilitating introductions between companies and organisations where there is a genuine potential for business - meeting the buyer and developing collaborative partnerships
• Training SMEs to comply with their obligations regarding waste management and help them to develop strategies to improve staff, material and equipment performance

Engages with major players

• We continue to work with large firms to promote the benefits of good procurement and supply chain management to drive business improvement programmes. New modules will compliment our existing services - Environmental Management Systems and Lean Construction
• The Business Opportunities Services that brings together collaborative solutions offers major players real competitive advantage in delivering added value for no additional costs
• SECBE is helping companies to identify new markets, particularly overseas. Working with SEEDA and UKTI, SECBE is considering local support offices in the Middle East and North Africa to identify market opportunities and trading conditions in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Libya

Influences the operating environment

• Deliverying workshops to bring businesses and Local Authorities together to learn how to meet the targets for zero carbon homes
• Engaging Local Authorities in high growth areas to seriously consider the case for a construction consolidation centre that dramatically improve delivery logistics and congestion, increase recovery & reuse of site materials and increase worksforce productivity
• Creating a stronger voice for businesses in the policy consultation process by combining the efforts of all the key professional institutions and their members
• Developing a grounded international strategy for the South East built environment sector
• Publishing quarterly briefings to provide stakeholders with strategic insight into market trends and opportunities
• Assisting SEEDA to attract inward investment into the region to address gaps in our capabilities

Page last updated 09/07/08