Tag Archives: Scottish Decorators’ Federation

William Burton

"Full and frank discussion" as SDF meets CITB’s interim CEO

The Scottish Decorators’ Federation (SDF) met with CITB’s interim chief executive to provide input on how to improve the industry.

The private meeting between SDF’s CEO Ian Rogers and William Burton (pictured), which lasted almost two hours, took place ahead of an intimate dinner for industry leaders hosted by Mr Burton at the Glasgow Marriott Hotel on Tuesday, August 6th.

William Burton took over as an interim Chief Executive of CITB, the Industry Training Board responsible for the UK construction industry, in May 2013.

Ian Rogers said:

“We appreciate William’s generosity with his time. He was enthusiastic and open to having a full and frank discussion about the key matters facing the industry, including our card certification scheme SCORE (Scottish Construction Operatives Registration Executive) and the operations and governance of CITB as a whole.”

mike-bialyj

SDF welcomes constructive meeting with CITB education director

The Scottish Decorators’ Federation (SDF) enjoyed a lively meeting with Mike Bialyj at today’s National Council meeting in Stirling.

The wide-ranging discussion allowed CITB’s Employer Services Director to fully understand the Federation’s position on a number of issues after which Mr Bijali undertook to progress the points raised with the appropriate departments and respond before the end of the month.

The discussion included:

-The Federation’s resistance to the proposed shared apprenticeship scheme
-Making funding more equitable to training groups according to size
-Moving the Scottish heats of SkillBuild to co-incide with Scottish Apprenticeship Week
-SDF representation on the CITB Board and on the CITB-administered training group and growth fund committees.

With its experience of administering SPADAC (Scottish Painting and Decorating Apprenticeship Council), the SDF was also able to share best practice for the English apprenticeship scheme CAS (Construction Apprenticeship Services). The team advised Mr Bialyj on segmenting CAS into construction sectors to make it more attractive and relevant to both apprentices and employers.

And they discussed the representation of the British Decorators’ Federation – the English branch of the SDF – on various education committees south of the border, including a seat on the CAS board.

Ian Rogers, Chief Executive of SDF, said: “The National Council was delighted to welcome Mike to Scotland to listen to the concerns of our members and we trust that he will revert with a positive update soon.

“We hope this is the first of many constructive meetings with the directors of CITB and look forward to meeting and working in partnership with the interim CEO William Burton.”

Brendan K

Brendan Keenan joins Skills Advisory Group

SDF Past President and founder of Dumbreck Decorators, Brendan Keenan has joined the Skills Advisory Group (formerly Construction Skills Group) as an employers’ representative.

His first outing as an SDF representation took place at a recent meeting held in the CITB-ConstructionSkills offices in Inchinnan, Glasgow.

SDF Chief Executive Ian Rogers was also in attendance and, until Brendan’s appointment, had been the sole representative for a considerable period.

The Group discusses key issues facing the industry and is updated by CITB-ConstructionSkills on new entrant recruitment, training plans and training groups.

Members include Scottish Building Federation (SBF), Federation of Master Builders (FMB), Civil Engineering Contractors’ Association (CECA) as well as representatives from various sectors within ConstructionSkills.

The chair of the Group is Ed Monaghan who is Chief Executive of Mactaggart & Mickel Homes and Chair of the Skills and Training Group at Homes for Scotland.

Brendan Keenan said: “I’m really looking forward to working with Ian in maintaining the high profile of the SDF in this Group, which is expertly chaired by Ed, a Painter & Decorator to trade. It’s great to see someone from the same background as most of our members achieving such a high and well-deserved profile.”

mark-farrar

Progress made as SDF’s National Council meet with CSkills’ CEO

Members of the SDF’s National Council met with the Chief Executive of CITB-ConstructionSkills yesterday (Thursday, March 14th) to discuss SCORE (Scottish Construction Operatives Registration Scheme) and other key Federation and industry issues.

The meeting with Mark Farrar (pictured) took place prior to the National Council meeting held at the Scottish Decorators’ Federation’s headquarters in Stirling.

Accompanied by Scottish-based colleague Phil Ford, Skills Strategy Manager at CSkills, Mr Farrar saw a vigorous two-hour discussion with Council members where agreement was reached on a way forward with SCORE.

Ian Rogers, Chief Executive of the SDF, said: “It was good to host this important meeting with Mark at the Federation’s HQ where he was fully appraised of a range of SDF-related issues by the National Council members.

“We thank Mark for his time and await an update on the actions he has agreed to undertake by the end of the month.”

Unknown

SDF’s productive meeting with Danny Alexander MP

The Scottish Decorators’ Federation (SDF) enjoyed a productive meeting with The Rt Hon Danny Alexander, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, in Inverness today (Friday, February 1st).

SDF Chief Executive Ian Rogers and President Ralph Skene joined local constituent and SDF member David Mackay of Highland Painters and Decorators to meet with Lib Dem MP, who is also Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to discuss the key issues facing the Federation, its members and the industry as a whole.

The hour-long discussion covered the hub initiative, apprentices, retention, SCORE and CITB-ConstructionSkills, including the industry’s displeasure regarding the Inverness office.

Ian Rogers said: “We’re delighted that Danny devoted so much time out of his busy schedule to fully understand our concerns about the industry and how they affect our members locally and nationally.

“We were impressed with his industry knowledge and are pleased that he has undertaken to assist us in progressing some of these issues on our behalf. We look forward to providing further updates very soon.”

SDF website screen grab for JKC post copy

The Scottish Decorators’ Federation gets an online re-decoration

2013 sees a brand new online look for the SDF as it launches its new website and embraces social media networking with a Facebook page and YouTube Channel.

The new-look website – at the same address: www.scottishdecorators.co.uk – has been completely re-designed to be as clear, clean and user-friendly as possible.

The navigation is simplified with a new kiosk-style format so users can instantly find the information they want.

And there is more colour and images that reflect the Federation’s visual industry.

Customers looking to contact an SDF member can access the updated search function in the  ‘Find A Decorator’ section while prospective members can review all the membership benefits and apply online through the ‘Join the SDF’ kiosk.

Members will need a username and password to access the members’ area control panel that includes important, regularly updated information on education & training, apprenticeships, law & legislation, events, and resources such as the SDF newsletter, Decorating Matters Magazine and the SDF app.

Social media

The SDF is embracing social media as a new way to engage with their members, the industry and interest groups in different ways. Users can read the latest SDF-related and industry news, find out about new products and SDF offers as well as discover the range of the SDF’s activities and how members can get involved and make a difference to the industry.

Take a look at and ‘like’ the new Facebook page – www.facebook.com/scottishdecoratorsfederation.

The SDF’s dedicated YouTube Channel will host their online videos via the Facebook page and website.

Ian Rogers, Chief Executive of the SDF, said: “After receiving a number of creative proposals, the board plumped for vibrant, Glasgow-based company Pocapoc Creative who just got what we were looking for. Our PR consultant Jenny Kumar of JK Consultancy managed the project and since their appointment in August, we’ve been working hard on our online presence to make sure it’s fit for purpose and appeals to our different audiences.

“We’re embarking on a new and exciting online journey and hope you’ll support us by giving constructive feedback and spreading the word.”

Any members wishing to contribute images for the website of interesting projects should send jpegs no larger than 1mb to info@scottishdecorators.co.uk and include the project details in the email.

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