Esh’s Ross Markwell appointed as Chair of CECA’s Chairman’s Strategic Forum
- kelseygarbutt
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Business Development Director secures role after being involved with CECA for over 15 years.
Business Development Director at County Durham based Esh Construction, Ross Markwell, has been named as the new chair of the Civil Engineering Contractor’s Association (CECA) Chairman’s Strategic Forum.
As one of the longest serving members on the North East regional CECA board, Ross has held a number of positions in CECA during his 15 years served. Appointed regional vice chair in 2021, he became regional chair just two years later and earned a seat on the Chairman’s Strategic Forum, where he quickly became vice chair.
He said: "I’ve been with Esh Construction for over 20 years and was proud to follow in the footsteps of one of our founders, Jack Lumsden, and now Deputy Chief Executive, Stephen Wilkie, when I became a member of the regional board."
“I am all too aware of both the challenges and opportunities facing UK civil engineering contractors today, and as the new chair, in partnership with the wider forum, I’m eager to garner the strong voices from our members to continue raising the profile of civil engineering with a view to making improvements across the wider sector.”
CECA is recognised by members, clients, and Governments as the preeminent body representing the interests of the UK’s civil engineering contractors. The Chairmans Strategic Forum represents the voice of the members from all six of CECA’s English regions and the devolved nations of Scotland and Wales.
CECA Chief Executive, Alasdair Reisner, said: “The strength of our organisation comes from the commitment of its members, who help us to make the case for a better, safer and more productive civil engineering sector. Ross has played a key role in refreshing and updating the association in the last few years so I am delighted that this has been recognised by his peers from across the organisation with this appointment as our national chair. I am confident that he will continue to provide brilliant guidance on how we can deliver outstanding services for members during his time in the role.”
Throughout the two-year chairperson position, Ross will champion CECA’s ‘Core Pillars’ which are Sustainability & Social Value, Clients, Policy & Workload, Health, Safety & Wellbeing, Careers & Recruitment, and Skills & Training.
“The ‘Core Pillars’ represent members’ priorities, and these are something I campaigned towards at both regional and national level,” added Ross. “During my time as regional chair, we introduced a college bursary programme which rewards students studying a civil engineering (or related) course who go over and above in their studies. Through this initiative we want to encourage students to build a career in the sector in line with the Careers & Recruitment ‘Core Pillar’ – it is something I’m really proud of and I hope to be able to develop this initiative across the regions and nations in my time as national chair.”
Looking ahead, Ross is keen to find examples of such initiatives and best practices from CECA’s regions and nations. He said: “There are great things happening in civil engineering across the UK, and a key driver for me is to identify such opportunities and ideas that can be rolled out far and wide for the benefit of all CECA members.
“We are all dealing with similar challenges within the industry and collaboration is key if we are to drive change as one.”
