The 2025 BESA Annual Conference will take place on October 16 at the Brewery in London.
This year’s one-day event will focus heavily on business growth with sessions aimed at helping building engineering firms identify new markets and opportunities, as well as achieving more through innovation and workforce development.
There will be two distinct strands: theatre one, sponsored by Mitsubishi Electric, will be focused on the day-to-day business of running a building engineering firm and theatre two, sponsored by Schneider Electric, will focus on ensuring employees are equipped with the skills they need to meet current and future challenges.
BESA is also introducing a new feature called "Meet the Expert" where delegates can delve deeper into specific areas of interest with one-to-one sessions on legal and contractual issues, employment and education, competence and compliance, legislation, and building safety among others.
The idea is to encourage further discussions of key topics many of which will also be addressed during hands-on workshops.
A key theme running throughout the day will be addressing the impact of the “race to the bottom on cost” which has hindered business success, damaged the sector’s reputation and undermined innovation, quality, and long-term performance.
Procurement
Moving the business model away from short-term, price-driven procurement to one that prioritises long-term value and whole-life performance will be an ambition that dominates several sessions and discussions.
“We will aim to address the key questions: What does outcome-based procurement look like in practice—and how do we embed it from design to delivery to operation?” said BESA chief executive officer David Frise.
“And, as the government accelerates investment in construction to drive economic growth, how can firms position themselves to take advantage—especially in an era where building safety, quality, and decarbonisation are not just compliance issues, but powerful business drivers?”
Business tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced engineering processes and technologies will be in the spotlight along with more detailed technical challenges like designing for improved water quality and maximum heat pump performance.
BESA’s speakers and workshop leaders will also challenge current recruitment models to ensure the emerging generation are being equipped with the skills they need to achieve competence and compliance on multiple fronts.
“In too many cases, we are still training tomorrow’s generation to do yesterday's jobs,” said BESA’s director of competence and compliance Jill Nicholls. “Our employer members and NextGen network of young engineers are helping us shape a skills model that is more fit for purpose and reflects the rapid pace of change across our industry.”
Build UK chief executive officer Suzannah Nichol will deliver a keynote speech and lead a workshop looking at how the construction supply chain can better drive economic growth and deliver homes and infrastructure more efficiently – improving productivity along the way.
There will also be a session jointly delivered with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) considering the ‘the building as a system’ and how improved collaboration between built environment professionals can deliver more sustainable, safer buildings.
More highlights will be revealed in the coming weeks but the current conference programme and registration details are available here.