Mark Beard FCIOB, chairman of Beard Construction, has become the 117th President of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). His presidency starts as CIOB members and the wider construction industry are facing some of the greatest challenges in the Institute’s 186-year history.

As an industry, safety should always be our number one priority. The unique circumstances in which we currently find ourselves put a new and unwelcome twist on that, but we can and must work within those limits to keep building and delivering the projects that are so vital to keeping the economy moving.

The conversion of Swindon’s former GWR Carriage Works to create premises for the Royal Agricultural University’s Cultural Heritage Institute is continuing apace through the pandemic.

Family-owned construction firm Beard has earned British Standards Institution (BSI) accreditation on three key measures of industry best practice. Achieving these standards is an important part of Beard’s strategy, ensuring it has strong systems in place to support sustainable growth.

Family-owned construction firm Beard, whose work include medical research facilities, special needs schools and MOD work, is continuing to operate on more than 90 per cent of its sites, despite the wave of closures that the industry has seen in response to the spread of Covid-19.