August: festival time for the FMB and members in Scotland

This August, some members and I participated in two festivals. Both part of the world-famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Each helping to boost the FMB’s profile in Scotland and cementing our members’ collective reputation as professional local building firms.

First up was the Green Home Festival which was held in a marquee in Charlotte Square Gardens. This week-long festival saw more than 500 delegates attend to receive advice and hands-on demonstrations of materials and technology. Now the first Green Home Festival took place in 2022 and this year’s festival was once again, a joint effort between the FMB and other trade and professional associations that form Scotland’s Construction Industry Collective Voice (CICV).

What is the CICV?

Created at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 with the FMB as a founding member, the CICV lobbies the Scottish Government to influence policy and provides expertise on important issues affecting the industry. The largest initiative produced by the CICV is the Green Home Festival.

This year, I was Chair of the Green Home Festival task force with the target audience for it being homeowners looking to make improvements to their homes. Most FMB members primarily delivering construction services such as renovations or extensions for homeowners. The festival bringing future clients and contractors together, especially important given the emerging domestic retrofit marketplace. 

Highlights of the 2024 Green Home Festival

Scottish Government Minister, Dr Alasdair Allan, opened the festival, where there were 10 well-attended shows during the week presented by builders, architects, plumbers and manufacturers.

There was even a large van parked in the garden. Inside the van was a mobile heat pump training centre with experts on hand to answer consumer questions about the technology.

Undoubtedly, though, the three shows involving FMB members were the best. These were:

• Retrofit explained: The right way to deliver retrofit where Paul Dempsey from True Build Trade Services Ltd was joined by an architect and a surveyor
• Passivhaus made simple with Ross and Clare Booth from Coldwells Build; and
• Sustainable materials in construction with Alasdair Campbell from FMB Associate Member, the Isle of Skye Paint Company, speaking as a pioneer of producing sustainable materials.

My thanks to Paul, Ross, Clare and Alasdair for getting involved in the Green Home Festival and for helping me make it a success.

Fellow organiser Fiona Hodgson, who is CEO of the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation (SNIPEF) said:

Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival

A few days after the Green Home Festival, I was back in central Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival. This festival celebrates traditional buildings, with practical tips for the public in how to maintain and repair traditional buildings. Unsurprisingly festival organisers the Edinburgh Traditional Building Forum, were eager to involve the FMB.

On 21 August, Gavin Richardson from member company HM Raitt & Sons Ltd gave a practical Sash and Case window demonstration to members of the public just off the Royal Mile at Edinburgh World Heritage. Gavin made his debut at this festival in 2023 and once again gave a highly accomplished demonstration whilst fielding dozens of questions from a very engaged audience.

My thanks to Gavin and HM Raitt & Sons for their help at this festival.

If you would like to get involved in either festival next year, please get in touch.

Authors

Gordon Nelson

FMB Scotland Hub Director, Federation of Master Builders

Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland

Gordon has nearly twenty years’ experience of working in membership organisations in Scotland and joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in 2014. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and for Unilever in business development, membership management and business-to-business marketing roles. Amongst his responsibilities in his role as the Director for FMB Scotland are public affairs, media relations, governance and representing member’s interests to Scottish policy makers and stakeholders within the Scottish construction industry. Gordon is the Secretary of the Cross-Party Group on Construction in the Scottish Parliament, and he is a member of the Scottish Building Standards Futures Board. Gordon represents the FMB on Scotland’s Construction Industry Collective Voice: which is comprised of the leading construction trade and professional bodies. In spring 2023 Gordon was appointed as an industry co-chair of the Construction Leaderships Forum’s (CLF) Transformation Board.

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