18th May 2000

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Attracting work for Northern Ireland's construction industry, which employs 30,000 people, is to be the main theme of a major conference at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on Thursday.

The Conference, which has been organized by the University of Ulster’s School of the Built Environment and the Chartered Institute of Building, will look at issues such as how the reduction in spending in Northern Ireland’s public sector is influencing the industry:

"In order to survive, the industry here must grasp the significance of the strategic issues shaping its development.

"The 'Rethinking Construction' report commissioned by the Prime Minister aimed to challenge established working practices and it will have far reaching implications on the local industry," said a spokesman.

The conference, entitled 'Embracing Change in Construction', will bring together leading figures from the public and private sectors across the United Kingdom to discuss issues such as new procurement methods.

It will be chaired by the Chairman of the Construction Industry Group, John Cole.

Other speakers include:

10.15am - 'The Movement for Innovation'
Alan Crane, Chairman of the Movement for Innovation.

11.20am - 'Northern Ireland Construction Issues'
David Ferguson, Department of Finance and Personnel

11.50am - 'DENI -PFI Where We Are, Where We Are Going?'
Dr Jim Livingstone, DENI

2.30pm - 'Drumglass High School - A Design led PFI Project'
David Johnston, Building Design Partnership

3.15pm - 'PFI/PPP Post Construction, The Contractors View'
Andrew Bill, Director of Graham

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk