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ACE has staged its Annual Conference at the prestigious St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, with delegates from across the country hearing from industry experts and leading clients about the direction of the industry and the issues it faces.
The day-long event brought together ACE members, both large and small, under the theme “getting back to business”.
Delegates met with and heard from key figures from organisations such as, UKTI, PwC, Brewin Dolphin and Network Rail to discuss finance, mergers and acquisitions, foreign markets and low carbon construction.
Advice was offered on how to enter new markets by UKTI’s Phil Dowrick, Patrick Crawford, chief executive of the Export Credit Guarantee Department and Alan Bramwell, chief executive of Clancy Consulting. Delegates also heard from a panel led by the government’s chief construction adviser, Paul Morrell OBE, on the Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team report. There was a lively discussion on the direction of mergers and acquisitions across the industry.
Sam Toulson of PwC, Sandy Fraser of Brewin Dolphin and Geoff French of newly-merged URS/Scott Wilson recognised the trend for consolidation, but all noted that firms should be careful to ensure that the cultures and positions of the merging companies fit.
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