Facing the Recession

Ascot is a strange place – world famous and yet there’s really nothing much here apart from the racecourse.  It also seems to be a place that is removed from the real world with some very obvious signs of affluence and indeed royalty.  Even sitting in Ascot however the SCI cannot ignore what is going on in the world.  We need to ensure that our income does not fall short of our costs, and we need to do whatever we can to help our members weather the storm.

As I write this at the end of February I’m pleased to report that so far we seem to be holding up well.  A good part of this is because the range of services we offer can bring real commercial benefit to our clients – yes they too need to weather the storm but they also need to ensure they have good products and a healthy market to sell into once things pick up.  Our skills and networks can help.

We are however being prudent.  We have decided to cancel the annual dinner this year as this used up a not inconsiderable amount of members’ funding and we feel that money could be better spent on other things.  We will decide later in the year if we can afford a summer/autumn members event as trialled in July 2008.  We are not increasing our membership rates, but we are offering additional benefits (beginning with an electronic enhancement of our advisory service, and some electronic Eurocode tools).  We have also brought book sales in-house to provide a better service in addition to cost savings.

By taking these measures I hope to ensure that SCI will be around to serve the sector for many years to come.

Graham Couchman
Director SCI

For further information about membership, please contact:

Sandi Gentle
Membership, Courses and Publications Sales Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 1344 636544
Email: s.gentle@steel-sci.com