Telford College hosted a ‘Meet The Buyer’ event, helping local businesses to improve their chances of winning lucrative contracts in the construction industry.

The event, organised by Shropshire Constructing Excellence and supported by Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, attracted a gathering of more than 100 people.

It was an opportunity for supply-chain businesses to meet leading contractors and public sector procurement teams involved in some major projects.

There was also an exhibition area, and an opportunity for networking both before and after the presentations.

Delegates gained valuable insights into winning contracts, upcoming projects, timescales, and bidding processes, while talks will cover topics such as social value, ESG, and updates on legislation such as the Building Safety Act.

They heard from Andrew Carpenter of Constructing Excellence Midlands, Mark Barrow who chairs Constructing Excellence Shropshire, Laura Mort from safetyfor.co.uk, and Matt Hickman, refurbishment partnerships director with Lovell.

Ruth Ross, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber, said: “The importance of the construction industry to the Shropshire economy was emphasised with statistics revealing that it now supports some 9,000 jobs and generates over £1 billion a year to the county.

“If you take into account that every £1 spent on construction-related work is multiplied nearly three-fold in terms of economic benefit, the potential economic impact for our county between now and 2032 will be over £16 billion.

“There are hundreds of businesses in Shropshire with connections to the construction sector, and we want to make sure they have the best possible chances of gaining a share of these significant upcoming projects.”

Amanda Carpenter, from the Construction Industry Training Board which was among the exhibitors, said: “We spoke with some fantastic sub-contractors and supply-chain businesses who are involved in some of Shropshire’s and Telford & Wrekin’s biggest construction projects, and shared information about CITB apprenticeship and training grants.”