The Scottish Building Federation has opened a "fruitful dialogue" with the Scottish Government's Scottish Futures Trust, according to Federation Chief Executive Michael Levack.

A selection of the Federation's larger contractors met with Scottish Futures Trust Chief Executive Barry White last week, where those present discussed the major challenges facing the Scottish construction industry and current and future priorities for the Trust in this context.

The event was also attended by SBF President and Joint Managing Director of the ERDC Group Ltd, Ian Robb, as well as senior representatives of the Federation’s larger contractors.

Commenting after the meeting, Michael Levack said: "This was a great opportunity for the Federation and its membership to begin discussions with the Scottish Futures Trust’s Chief Executive about the key issues currently facing the Scottish construction industry.

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"In this difficult economic climate, where the public finances are being squeezed but our members rely more than ever on a consistent flow of public sector work to sustain their order books, there’s a lot of hope and expectations riding on the Scottish Futures Trust to generate innovative new solutions.

"The Scottish Building Federation is committed to doing all it can to help the Trust fulfil its potential. It’s in our members’ own interest that the Trust is a success. We wanted to make that commitment clear to Barry White in a face-to-face meeting. I think the meeting was extremely useful and has allowed us to open a fruitful dialogue with the Trust, which will hopefully continue and intensify over the coming months."

Barry White added: "I was delighted to meet with the Scottish Building Federation. The Federation is clearly an important stakeholder and partner for the Trust as our mandate continues to develop and grow. I’m grateful for the membership’s support and look forward to maintaining this dialogue as we continue to develop as an organisation and deliver on our business plan."

(GK/BMcC)