Professional environmentalist Dr Miles Watkins, current chairman of the Institute of Quarrying, has been appointed to the new post of Business Development Director at BRE in Watford.
He joins BRE from Aggregate Industries, where he worked for 17 years, most recently as Director of Sustainable Construction.
It is for his commercial expertise that he has been appointed by BRE, although his background in sustainability dovetails comfortably with the BRE culture.
Miles told NSS: “BRE is a very strong technical organisation and in order to grow needs an enhanced commercial approach. Because I’m an environmentalist I understand that element as well and I’m able to work very quickly with that ethos of BRE.
“We are playing to our strengths of research-based standards to help people build a better world.” And he does mean the world, because part of his aim is to expand BRE internationally.
Miles says BRE has a lot to offer natural stone companies to help them with issues such as CE marking and building information modelling (BIM). “You can put a traditional material into a modern world and there’s no reason not to address modern customer demands,” he says.
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Would you like some of your products on semi-permanent display in the sustainable buildings at BRE in Garston, Watford? If you would, Dr Miles Watkins would be happy to hear from you.
Miles has just been appointed Business Development Director of BRE and is keen to make the BRE Innovation Parks at Garston and elsewhere work harder as part of his aim to attract more visitors (and more work).
Stone as worktops, floors, feature walls, stairs, exterior walls or cladding, roofs paving… however you sell stone there is an opportunity to promote it at BRE.
Miles emphasises that the BRE is not intending to become a B&Q kind of product showcase and is looking for materials that are more interesting and have a sustainability message, which, of course, natural stone does.
A founding member of the UK Green Building Council and currently chairing the Institute of Quarrying and Care for the Wild International, Miles joins BRE from Aggregate Industries, where he worked for 17 years, most recently as Director of Sustainable Construction.
As a professional environmentalist, he understands well that element of the work of BRE and its initiatives such as BREEAM and BES 6001 Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products. But, he says: “Really what I’m bringing to BRE is commercial experience. BRE is a very strong technical organisation and in order to grow needs an enhanced commercial approach to it.”
His aim is to expand BRE’s reach not just in this country but internationally, building on its already significant strengths.
He says BRE has a lot to offer natural stone companies to help them with issues such as CE marking and building information modelling (BIM), neither of which has been universally welcomed by the industry.
Miles: “There’s a long game of technical detail around products that is going to be moving forward all the time. It’s not an issue that’s going to go away. It’s a customer focus thing. If people want to source materials using BIM you have to serve that customer need.
“It’s about being in touch with the market. It’s incredibly important for traditional industries such as stone and timber to address these changes. BRE is keen to help suppliers meet the needs of their customers.”
He says he will help BRE play to its strengths of assisting in the building of a better world.
And his initial impression of the BRE? “It’s a really buzzy place to work; it’s got a real sort of energy about it.”