An inaugural Heritage Building & Conservation (HB&C) lunch was held last month (6 November) in Plaisterers Hall at One London Wall in the City of London, with more than 175 guests from across the heritage sector attending, including architects, engineers and surveyors.

HB&C expressed its great gratitude to Szerelmey for its hand in the formation of the company, stating that the Szerelmey support and encouragement had been invaluable. However, for more than a year now HB&C has been an independent, stand-alone company and wanted to celebrate that with a luch it hopes will become a regular feature of the company.

The key note speaker for the afternoon was Professor John Edwards, who provided an insight into his career in the heritage sector spanning more than 30 years. He was the author of BS 79132: A Guide to the Conservation of Historic Buildings. He discussed some of the challenges facing the industry of ensuring people with the right qualifications are in the right positions.

HB&C says what it offers is a national supportive network of heritage craft skills, knowledge and experience that maintains local connections. As it phrases it: national resource, local knowledge.