Nigel Headford – CAB Chief Executive
If you already supply architectural aluminium for commercial or home improvement markets, or just getting into aluminium fabrication and installation, no doubt you will have questions about the material, standards and legislation. You may have a product or service which benefits the aluminium supply chain, or you may just be interested in getting into the aluminium market, then membership of the Council for Aluminium in Building, CAB, is for you and your business.
The Council for Aluminium in Building (CAB) was formed in 1994 by bringing together three existing Trade Associations; the Architectural Aluminium Association, the Patent Glazing Contractors Association and the Aluminium Window Association. Its members include Consultants, Fabricators, Installers, Systems Companies and many Specialist Product Supply and Manufacturing companies. With over 130 Members across the aluminium supply chain, CAB became a company, limited by guarantee, in January 2006 and is the only UK and Ireland based Association that offers support in both the commercial and home improvement supply chains.
Membership of such a well established and well respected Association in the Construction Industry helps when pitching for business, but membership of CAB goes deeper than this. For a business looking to join CAB or any Association that represents their part of any supply chain there are possibly three main key considerations:
Recognition for your company to be placed in a membership listing alongside larger and well recognised industry players immediately boosts your status within the Industry and adds credibility. With this comes the pride of being a member of a team and the ability to ‘Wear the badge with pride’.
Advocacy, important for all members that they have the ability to voice concerns about the Industry and, with their input with other Members, bring about change. An ‘All for One and One for All’ call which is a cornerstone of why Associations are forming in the first place. The power to change an environment is stronger than at the individual level. Associations, such as CAB, are the hub where individuals organise their resources, plan their strategy, and assign action plans.
Associations are the original social media network. Meet with like-minded professionals interested in the same issues as you, access content that enlightens and discover new connections that support your business. These are often not tangible reasons for joining an Association, but, by engaging within an Associations’ network of members alliances can be achieved which could have tangible outcomes. The old adage rings true ‘You only get out what you put in’ when it comes to networking.
Very powerful reasons to join an Association like CAB who recognise these cornerstones of inclusivity for its Membership, but, membership goes deeper still:
Access to Resources. CAB has long been recognised for its Technical Support within the Industry, the CAB Technical Team sit on many of the Industry decision-making committees and represent the Membership position on everything that influences the supply chain. These positions are gained within CAB Member Committees and Working Groups set up within the Association Membership and are open for any Member to attend. With CAB’s close involvement with UK standards and legislation comes the ability to be a single point of call for any Members questions when it comes to quotations or specifications.
Being a Member does offer tangible benefits as well, such as access to free support lines for HR and Tax issues, access to a Members Webinar Resource which keeps abreast of contractual and economic issues in the Industry. These are just a few of the benefits and,key for CAB at the moment, is to build more tangible resources for Members as the Association continues to grow.
A further benefit of being a Member of an Association like CAB is to be able to become involved in leading edge initiatives such as CABs’ very own ‘Closed Loop Recycling’ initiative. Open for any member, who handles both pre consumer and post consumer scrap, to join. The initiative raises aluminium ‘grade’ awareness so that a window extrusion that could have a life of fifty years or more, can be recycled back into a further window extrusion with no loss in characteristics and virtually no waste. The initiative also aims to keep more used aluminium in the UK and encourages a cyclical product life cycle. Likely to become legislation at some point in the future, the initiative offers members a strong negotiating base when pitching for new business within the Industry.
Availability of training, either in person or online. Stepping beyond Membership and reaching out to the thousands of Curtain Wall Installers across the UK, CAB offer a route to obtain a CSCS Skills card which is seen by main contractors as a recognised measure of professional competency on site. Members of CAB benefit from receiving some of this training at reduced costs.
It is important to recognise that an Association belongs to its Members and the more influence that Members can bring into the Association, the further it will grow. The CAB Board of Directors is committed to grow the Association and continue to increase value for membership. Should you wish to learn more about the use of Aluminium used in Construction, please contact CAB, join the Association and be recognised as being involved in supporting your Industry and helping to shape its future. More information on our website at c-a-b.org.uk
