From Birdcage Walk

The latest in our ongoing series of updates about activities at the Institution.

Dear Member,

The march of time means that once again, here in the UK, the holiday clothes have been put away and the processes of preparing for the year end and starting again next January are underway.  The cycle is a tried and trusted one, but it is interesting to go back and see what we were saying last year at this time. We had only just started on this weekly update (and so now this is your 53^rd!) but as you’ll see we were setting out our stall back then for what we wanted to achieve this year.

It's very encouraging therefore to be able to report that we are on track. The commercial businesses have all been working hard and are each having good years. They are all set to meet or beat their budgets and so put some extra cash back into our reserves. There are still four months to go of course and no-one is ‘counting chickens’ but it is welcome evidence of the underlying strength of their operations. Our thanks must go to all of those who have made that possible, especially our customers who put faith in what we do.

In the ‘Learned Society’ part of the Institution we have also been able to keep a close eye on our costs and we similarly look set to meet or beat our budget.  That is despite the need to cover the costs of our Review Teams and now the Implementation Team for the structural changes that we will be making in the coming months.  Importantly we have also been able to keep to our commitment to spend significantly on our IT capability as our legacy systems age and need updating or replacing.  It’s almost certain that you still have some concerns over our website or our digital toolbox but we hope that some of the fruits of our labour are starting to be visible. The chance for example to hold two extra Council meetings this year to generate discussion on the Review reports has been possible only through the power of the Internet.  Many thanks to those who took part despite the time differences around the globe to ensure their views were heard.

And so what for 2020?  Well as in previous years, the Trustees will set out their priorities later this month for us to go away and work out options for an affordable plan to deliver them which we bring back to them for decision in December. It is risky to try to predict what they will prioritise, but do keep an eye out for programmes to ‘improve the world through engineering’ by more work in assisting in personal professional development. Our rapidly growing EngTech cohort for example are rightly making us look at how we can develop programmes specific to their operational needs.  Do also expect to see work on what we now call ‘Project Relevance’. Martin Robinson referred to it again in his article two weeks ago.  It is clearly so important that your Institution stays relevant in a rapidly changing world. The mistake surely as we look to set our sights on another year is to fool ourselves that more of the same will be good enough.

Colin Brown

Chief Executive

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