BAR Meetings
Forthcoming BAR meetings.
An important aspect of BAR is its networking within the reinforcement sector and with related client organisations and industry associations.
BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF REINFORCEMENT INDUSTRY SEMINAR 2026: FOCUS ON THE UK STEEL REINFORCEMENT SECTOR
29TH OCTOBER 2026, INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, LONDON
PROGRAMME
09.00 – 09.45
REGISTRATION AND NETWORKING BREAKFAST
09.45 – 09.55
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Stephen Elliott, Chairman, British Association of Reinforcement
09.55 – 10.15
UK STEEL STRATEGY: SIX MONTHS ON FROM GOVERNMENT LAUNCH – HAS IT MADE A DIFFERENCE?
Gareth Stace, Director General, UK Steel
Six months after the Government launched its long-awaited UK Steel Strategy, the key question is no longer what Ministers promised, but whether those promises are beginning to deliver real change on the ground.
The presentation will provide a candid assessment of the Strategy's early impact on one of Britain's foundation industries. Has the Government matched ambition with action? Are investment decisions, competitiveness and confidence in the sector beginning to shift? And what progress has been made on the issues that matter most to steel producers, including energy costs, trade protection, public procurement and decarbonisation?
Drawing on direct engagement with industry leaders, government ministers and official rhetoric will be separated from reality, meaningful progress and remaining obstacles will be highlighted, as the session asks what must happen next if the Government's vision of a thriving, competitive and low-carbon steel sector is to be realised.
For anyone with a stake in the future of UK steel manufacturing, this presentation will offer an essential insight into whether the UK's steel revival is genuinely underway or still waiting to begin.
10.20 – 10.40
THE NEED FOR CONSISTENT REINFORCEMENT DELIVERIES
Darren Biggs, Lead Appointed Person, Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd
The delivery of steel reinforcement to site can have recurring challenging issues. These include: vehicle access, edge protection, load height, stacking, separation, sling paths and the way that loads are presented for unloading. The challenge stems from that there is no one standardised aligned approach that provides a baseline to address the wide and varied range of issues. Different projects, contractors, suppliers and hauliers can have different expectations of what is acceptable when a reinforcement delivery arrives to site. This can result in site teams having to resolve avoidable problems at the point of unload. The presentation examines the varied challenges and how the industry is working together to resolve them with an agreed, consistent approach for steel reinforcement delivery to site. The end objective is safer and more efficient delivery and unloading.
10.45 – 11.05
ISCHEBECK PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: ON-SITE REBAR CAGE CONNECTIVITY
Trevor Larkin, Specialist Product Manager, Ischebeck Inform
Ischebeck’s involvement in the reinforcement industry has been relatively steady over the past 40 years, through our ‘Inform UK’ brand, but after securing work on some of the UK’s largest civil and energy projects 6 or 7 years ago, Ischebeck saw a need to develop our ideas for temporary works related products for use in on-site rebar cage prefabrication. The company wanted these systems to provide the end user with secure connectivity, designed-in stability and additional lifting applications.
Since then, Ischebeck have further developed environmentally friendly, time saving, safety applications for other embedded items within the rebar cage.
This presentation will provide a brief overview of these solutions; applications of use and some history of how these products came to exist.
11.10 – 11.30
TEA AND COFFEE
11.30 – 11.50
BEYOND CUT AND BEND: THE DIGITAL ROUTE TO PREFABRICATED REINFORCEMENT
Jack Beresford, Area Sales Manager, Progress Machinery & Automation
Rainer Fink – Area Sales Manager, Progress Software Development
For many reinforcement fabricators, the traditional model remains centred on supplying cut and bent bar for assembly on site. But labour shortages, tighter programmes and demands for safety, quality and traceability create an opportunity to move more of that work into the factory.
This presentation explores how rebar shops can use flexible, project-specific mesh production to develop higher-value prefabricated reinforcement solutions. Rather than focusing on a single machine, it follows the digital and production workflow: Design → Test → Scheduling → Production → Automation → Logistics.
Progress Group will show how reinforcement data can move from the design model into validation and production planning, before being converted into automatically welded, tailored mesh elements and organised for delivery and installation. Attention will be given to the connection between software and special mesh machinery: enabling variation from project to project while retaining the productivity, consistency and control of industrialised production.
The aim is to demonstrate a practical route beyond cut and bend: not replacing the rebar fabricator’s business but expanding its capability to deliver reinforcement that arrives ready to place—reducing site labour, waste, interfaces and installation time while creating value for both fabricator and contractor.
11.55 – 12.15
DELIVERING NUCLEAR GRADE REINFORCEMENT TO EUROPE’S LARGEST CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
John Collins, Head of Operations & Major Projects, 7-Steel
An overview of how 7 Steel Service delivered nuclear grade reinforcement to Hinkley Point C and adapted in order to operate under NEC project management standards on Europe’s largest construction project. The presentation will outline the key lessons from meeting nuclear requirements, managing multi factory production, and maintaining control of a highly complex, fast changing account.
12.20 – 12.40
THE STEEL FIXER GAP: A STRATEGIC RISK TO THE UK CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Werner Wijne, Category Manager Steel, Royal BAM Group nv
The presentation will examine how the shortage of steel fixers due to Brexit, demographic changes and construction growth are reshaping the UK steel fixing market. These considerations mean that, despite a robust training programme and well-paid salary structure, the outlook for the next 10 to 15 years is concerning as the lack of new entrants and growing availability of experienced fixers and foremen could result the delivery of reinforced concrete construction projects being compromised.
The presentation will ask the important question of 'who will fix the steel of tomorrow?' and examine how the steel fixer shortage can be addressed with increased use of prefabrication and automation and a stronger focus on domestic training rather than reliance on overseas recruitment.
12.45
CONCLUSION
REGISTRATION IS FREE BUT PLACES ARE STRICTLY LIMITED. TO BOOK YOUR PLACE CONTACT: CONDIALOGUE@AOL.COM