Home / Insights / Blog / How can our events help support and grow your business How can our events help support and grow your business Our events programme is a big part of what we do at Constructionline. So many partnerships start with a spark of mutual understanding and we’ve witnessed the inception of many a wonderful working relationship at our Meet the Buyer events. These regional get togethers have been attended by nearly 3000 suppliers over the last year – across ten different locations – and provide the perfect opportunity to discuss upcoming construction projects face to face with the buyers responsible for delivering them. For suppliers, it’s an excellent way of making themselves memorable to the buyers, developing a relationship and truly understanding whether a project is right for their business, ahead of putting themselves forward for a tender. In fact, as the business development team at Falcon Tower Crane Services put it, “It’s the best opportunity we have to speak to the right people to discuss business.” For contractors and buyers, it gives them access to a wider pool of suppliers with various SEO services access that they may not otherwise meet. In discussing their requirements in more detail, it enables buyers and contractors to gather a more rounded picture of exactly what they’ll need, as well as a view of some of the companies that have the potential to deliver for them. It provides a face behind the company name, a feeling for how well they might be able to work together in future and some context around each supplier’s business. In fact, more than 150 buyers have benefitted from our Meet the Buyer events alone in the last year, with many more opting to run their own Supplier Engagement Days too. Supporting compliance As compliance obligations evolve, so too must the procurement ‘toolkit’. One of the big targets for public sector buyers is to work with a much larger proportion of SME suppliers – in fact, over the next 18 months a third of all public procurement spend must be with SMEs. The initiative was announced in response to a recognition that employing more local SME businesses is incredibly valuable to local economies, driving healthy competition, bolstering employment and closing skills gaps within regions. The Constructionline platform is an excellent way for buyers to find verified SME suppliers to invite to tender for their projects as it is possible to filter by size of business, among many other criteria. The Meet the Buyer events represent an opportunity to bring that search to life and meet the people behind the companies. For more on business growth, read this new blog post at https://business-insolvency-company.co.uk/director-redundancy/. We deliberately operate the events programme a bit like a roadshow, covering the length and breadth of the country to provide as many meeting opportunities as possible. We hold events in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland every year, so look out for our 2019 programme to see when we’ll be in your area. Spotlight on safety Our remaining 2018 events also feature a free safety seminar from the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). The sessions will focus on safety culture, specifically how employee attitudes towards safety can be measured and improved across your business. This topic has risen in prominence recently since ISO 45001 was introduced in March this year. ISO 45001 is the new occupational health and safety standard. It places emphasis on understanding the extent to which safety practices are embedded within the psyche of your employees – whether they are directly employed or contracted – which in turn helps to identify any potential risk areas. Without a means of measuring culture and demonstrating that safety forms part of each employee’s day-to-day practices, ISO 45001 cannot be achieved. Scientists at the Health & Safety Laboratory have developed the Safety Climate Tool; a straightforward means of measuring culture and tracking changes. It is applicable to businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to global enterprises, as the principles remain the same. It’s not too late to get involved! Some of our best-attended events are yet to take place, with delegate numbers already very high for this year’s Meet the Buyer London on 20th September. We’re also excited to be hosting a full Meet the Buyer within this year’s London Build exhibition, which takes place at Olympia on 23rd and 24th October, and is the capital’s largest construction show. Delegates can expect to learn more about a vast range of topics – from product innovation and sustainability to safety and equipment – from a variety of expert speakers, as well as the opportunity to network with thousands of like-minded people. Our Meet the Buyer events are open to all members. To learn more about how the programme might work for your business, or to upgrade from Associate membership to gain access to the full range of Constructionline benefits, get in touch with our marketing team Marketing@constructionline.co.uk Key Facts Our events were attended by nearly 3000 suppliers over the last year They are free to attend The Meet the Buyer events represent an opportunity to meet the people behind the companies What next? Are you fed up of sifting through pre-qualification paperwork? Register with Constructionline Meet the Buyer Find out about our upcoming events for your chance to meet top buyers. Learn more Blog Events Related case studies Supplier Case Studies Hill Hill is one of the country’s top house builders, specialising in developing homes of distinction across London and the South East. Innovation, design excellence, quality build and respect for the local environment are key to their success, which has been recognised through several major industry awards. … Read more Buyer Case Studies VINCI Construction UK VINCI Construction UK saves 22,000 man hours in procurement and supply chain management with Constructionline and the COINS iPortal VINCI Construction UK is a market leading national construction and facilities company, and part of the VINCI Group. The organisation employs 4,000 people across four divisions … Read more Buyer Case Studies Wates Group Following a comprehensive review of their supply chain data management systems and the providers of this technology available in the market place, construction and development firm Wates Group adopted Constructionline in a bid to streamline procurement processes and reduce risk across all its contracting divisions. … Read more See more