The world is changing at a rapid pace. Projects are under increased pressure. People and businesses must adapt to thrive, and a commitment to best practice brings a competitive advantage. These are the learning points from recent BCECA conferences, and these four connected themes will shape our programme in 2026.
Much has changed over BCECA’s sixty-year history, including the conferencing landscape. Like many organisations, we accelerated our shift to online conferences and webinars during COVID-19. Our virtual annual conference was a success, and as it evolved, it opened new opportunities to better support the community by hosting more sessions throughout the year, enabling broader participation.
Building on this success, we have now developed a fully integrated programme of four interconnected webinars running throughout the year. Recent global events have prompted a major shift in the thinking of investors and political leaders around the delivery of major infrastructure projects. Priorities are changing, and engineering contractors must adapt to this new and uncertain world. This year’s BCECA Conference Series examines the challenge from four linked perspectives.
1. The Geopolitical Reality: What It Means for Engineering & Energy Sector in the UK
10.00 - 11.30 Wednesday 3 June 2026
Sponsored by:
Fluor Corporation is building a better world by applying world-class expertise to solve its clients’ greatest challenges. Fluor’s nearly 23,000 employees provide professional and technical solutions that deliver safe, well-executed, capital-efficient projects to clients worldwide. Fluor had revenue of $15.5 billion in 2025 and is ranked 257 among the Fortune 500 companies. With headquarters in Irving, Texas, Fluor has provided engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance services for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.fluor.com
Webinar Overview
The UK engineering and energy sector is facing a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape, with shifting government policy, global tensions, and increasing pressure on energy security reshaping how the industry operates. Chaired by Fluor's Mark Stanton, the first webinar in our 2026 conference series brought together a panel of thought leaders from the oil & gas and renewables sectors, along with a newly elected politician from the Scottish Parliament. The conversation explored how geopolitical change is reshaping the UK's engineering and energy landscape. Against a backdrop of conflict in Europe and the Middle East, supply chain disruption, rising costs and increasing infrastructure threats, the panel explored the implications for energy security, investment, project delivery and industrial competitiveness.
Speakers
Director Fluor Corporation
A central theme was the growing importance of energy security as a component of national security. Renewable UK’s Ana Musat highlighted how recent geopolitical events have exposed vulnerabilities in global energy markets, arguing that the UK must strengthen its energy sovereignty by increasing domestic generation and reducing reliance on imports. She pointed to the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and disruptions to global energy routes as examples of why secure, homegrown energy sources are increasingly important.
Katy Heidenreich from Offshore Energies UK emphasised that energy security, industrial resilience and economic growth must be considered together. She argued that the UK requires a balanced energy strategy, stating that the country needs ‘all energy‘, including oil and gas, offshore wind, hydrogen, and carbon capture, to remain competitive and attractive for investment. She also highlighted the importance of maintaining and growing domestic supply chains to support both existing and emerging energy sectors.
Reform UK MSP Duncan Massey focused on the affordability and competitiveness challenges facing UK industry. He argued that high energy costs are contributing to deindustrialisation and stressed the need for a more pragmatic energy policy centred on reliable, affordable and abundant energy. He cited the decline of energy-intensive industries as evidence that energy policy must be aligned more closely with economic and industrial objectives.
The discussion also examined barriers to delivering major infrastructure projects, including planning delays, regulatory complexity, supply chain pressures and workforce shortages. Panellists agreed that stronger collaboration among government, investors, developers, contractors, and trade bodies is essential to accelerate delivery, reduce risk, and create the long-term policy stability needed to attract investment. Despite differing perspectives on the optimal energy mix, the session concluded with broad agreement that the UK must strengthen energy security, support reindustrialisation, invest in skills and infrastructure, and create a more stable environment for long-term investment.
Watch a recording of the webinar here
Session runs for 76 minutes [NB Audio commences one minute after pressing 'Play']
2. The Challenge of Reaching FID for Complex Projects in the UK
14.00 - 15.30 Wednesday 1 July 2026
Sponsored by:
Bechtel is a trusted engineering, construction and project management partner to industry and government. Differentiated by the quality of our people and our relentless drive to deliver the most successful outcomes, we align our capabilities with our customers’ objectives to create a lasting positive impact. Since 1898, we have helped customers complete more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries across all seven continents, creating jobs, growing economies, improving the resilience of the world’s infrastructure, increasing access to energy, resources, and vital services, and making the world a safer, cleaner place.
Bechtel serves the Energy, Infrastructure, Manufacturing & Technology, Mining & Metals, and Nuclear, Security & Environmental markets. Services span from initial planning and investment, through start-up and operations.
Webinar Overview
The path to FID remains one of the most challenging stages in delivering major UK energy and industrial projects, particularly for first-of-a-kind technologies and emerging sectors such as sustainable aviation fuel. In this webinar, industry leaders from project development, export finance and engineering delivery will examine what it really takes for complex projects to become genuinely bankable, investable and executable in today’s market environment.
The discussion will explore the commercial, financial and delivery conditions required to reach FID, the barriers currently slowing project progression in the UK, and the practical steps needed to improve investor confidence and accelerate project delivery. Topics will include revenue certainty, risk allocation, contracting strategy, policy stability, supply chain pressures, permitting challenges, and the evolving expectations placed on project sponsors and EPC contractors.
The session will be led by Bechtel Enterprises' Head of UK and Western Europe, Robert Clewes
Speakers
3. Building Project Delivery Teams
14.00 - 15.30 Wednesday 30 September 2026
Sponsored by:
The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) is the industry-led skills body for the Engineering Construction Industry in Great Britain. An Arm’s Length Body of government, the ECITB works with employers and government to attract, develop and qualify personnel across a wide range of craft, technical and managerial disciplines. We invest more than £28 million every year to enhance skills across the engineering construction industry, support growth through workforce training, and help to tackle labour shortages and skills gaps.
Webinar Overview
Successful project delivery cannot happen without successful engineering project teams. This may sound like stating the obvious, but the hard reality of building and sustaining successful project teams amid economic and political uncertainty is an area in which BCECA member companies have extensive experience. Our third session will examine the challenges presented by an uncertain talent pipeline in 2026.
4. Delivering Excellence: Best Practice in 2026
Wednesday 4 November 2026
Sponsored by:
TRS Workforce Solutions delivers integrated talent and workforce strategies that help organisations build, scale, and optimise their teams in a rapidly evolving global market. We move beyond traditional recruitment to provide holistic, outcome-driven services across the full workforce lifecycle.
Our approach combines strategic workforce planning, specialist staffing, MSP and RPO expertise, and project-based hiring to align talent with business objectives. We partner closely with clients to enhance agility, improve visibility, and drive efficiency across contingent and permanent hiring challenges.
With deep sector expertise and global delivery capabilities, TRS Workforce Solutions supports complex projects, critical skills requirements, and long-term transformation programmes. By focusing on partnership, insight, and innovation, we enable organisations to access the right talent at the right time, empowering sustainable growth and operational excellence.
Webinar Overview
BCECA is a community where members discuss industry issues and share knowledge. Drawing together the key challenges identified in the first three sessions, this session will look at practical ways of building on the experience gained across the engineering contracting community.
The session will be led by TRS Workforce Solutions Business Director, Paul Mudd.
Speakers
Our 2026 Conference Series Supporters
The ECIA is a member-led association that provides a collective voice for employers within the Engineering Construction industry.
The Association works with all stakeholders to encourage good Industrial Relations and safe, productive working leading to the successful delivery of projects to Clients. It is underpinned by the NAECI, an effective and transparent framework that aids members in achieving their program safely, on time and on budget.
We are the Professional Home for all project controls disciplines including cost, planning, risk and estimating. We are both industry agnostic and industry specific. We promote and foster authentic diversity, facilitate continuous learning, and ignite enthusiasm within the thriving Project Controls' community. We are dedicated exclusively to raising the profile, standards, and influence of the project controls profession where we put your skills, challenges and careers at the centre of the conversation for the Authority.
Kingsfield Academy provides training and coaching solutions addressing the commercial and contractual challenges of delivering major engineering and construction projects both conventional and within the energy transition. Our programmes focus on the capabilities that matter most on today’s projects, ensuring teams are equipped to deliver in increasingly complex environments. This includes a particular emphasis on extension of time management, agile contract management, managing scope, contract, risk and change, applying appropriate project control measures and leveraging project leadership, productive stakeholder relationships, collaborative contracting models and collaborative contract management. What differentiates Kingsfield is our people. Our trainers have held senior roles across contractors, owners and subcontractors, working on major projects around the world. We understand the pressures your teams face and work with you to develop practical, innovative and immediately applicable solutions. Our highly interactive training is delivered by carefully hand-picked trainers who combine deep subject matter expertise with outstanding facilitation skills, supported by Kingsfield’s core team.
Keep the Conversation Going - Join us in Westminster
The conference recommendations are published in a report and shared at a reception for senior decision-makers and VIP guests in the House of Lords. The event is hosted by a Working Peer with expert knowledge of the legislation affecting the UK engineering contracting community. The findings from BCECA’s 2026 Conference Series will be published in January 2027.
Read our 2025 Conference Report
Sponsorship Opportunities
BCECA’s annual conference series provides sponsors and partners with a great opportunity for targeted lead generation, to explore new, productive partnerships, and to enhance their brand position with the engineering contracting community and its suppliers. Now established as a regular fixture in the engineering contractors’ calendar, last year’s programme saw 750 participants get involved. Now, with a new, more accessible format, we expect to reach this audience in 2026.
A range of packages and opportunities are available starting at £1,000. We are always open to exploring new and creative collaborations. For more information or to discuss tailored opportunities, please contact us at [email protected]