Spec Finish

Philip Brown takes the helm as FIS President At its AGM on 6 October, FIS announced its newly elected President Philip Brown. Philip, Director of contractor member Meronden, has been on the FIS Board of Directors for five years and will now start his two-year Presidency, following his appointment by his fellow directors. Philip has more than 45 years’ experience in the construction industry. He started out as an apprentice before going on to project manage numerous interior works, gaining in depth knowledge and experience within the industry before joining Meronden in 1997 as director. At his first address to members, Philip said: “I am a living and breathing contractor – none of this is academic to me, the work that FIS is doing, our vision of the future has to be grounded in the reality of today and we need FIS has to be reactive and flexible, to be there, not just with helpful insight into the future, but to be focussed on helping us to navigate there, to take the next step”. At the AGM Iain McIlwee, FIS Chief Executive welcomed Philip and the other new Board members and said: “We’re delighted to announce these appointments to continue the strong leadership at FIS and take FIS on to its next chapter of growth and success”. www.thefis.org/about-us/board/ Philip Brown, Director of Meronden and new FIS President FIS Announcement FIS Innovation Awards FIS has launched its all-new Innovation Awards, which will be presented at its conference at Workspace Design Show in London at the Business Design Centre in Islington in February 2023. FIS LAUNCH INNOVATION AWARDS T HE Awards are open to all companies operating in the finishes and interiors sector, regardless of size, with the focus being ideas that help support improvements in efficiency, productivity, performance, quality or perception of the finishes and interiors sector. FIS Chief Executive Iain McIlwee said: “There remains a perception that construction is not an innovative sector, our aimwith these awards is to debunk this myth and celebrate innovation in our sector across a number of categories. We are looking for innovation that meets a need in the sector and has evidence of adoption or planned use in a commercial environment. So, the successful exploitation of new ideas and bringing creative ideas to life.” Joe Cilia, FIS Technical Director, added: “I can think of at least four products which I have seen in the last few years that have been developed by both large and small organisations based on need to improve quality, address sustainability or save time and I am looking forward to these awards to be the showcase they need to get to a wider audience.” The key Award categories are: Product Innovation - Fit-out The Product InnovationAward – Fit-out recognises outstanding innovation in products incorporated into interior systems. It targets construction products that have made a positive impact to the delivery of commercial interiors. This embraces but is not limited to, walls and partitions, ceilings, doors, flooring and their components, staircases and balustrading and the raft of ancillary products associated with successful installations. Product Innovation – Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FF&E) The Product Innovation Award – FF&E recognises outstanding innovation in products that create workspaces including but not limited to, furniture, desks seating, acoustic absorbers, pods and kiosks, specialist joinery and signage. This is an open competition targeting those that have made a positive impact to the delivery of commercial interiors.  Digital Innovation Award The Digital InnovationAward recognises outstanding innovation in the digital landscape that is contributing to demonstrable improvements in efficiency or quality outcomes related to interior systems. The winner will be able to show their product or process is unique, creative and delivers significant and demonstrable improvement in the construction process by improving communications and increasing efficiency, quality and/or delivering safety and certainty through the process. Sustainable Innovation Award The Sustainable Innovation Award recognises outstanding innovation that is contributing to demonstrable improvements in sustainable outcomes related to interior systems. Thewinner will be able to show their product or process is unique and delivers significant and demonstrable progress towards the goal of sustainable development by reducing impacts on the environment or achieving amore efficient and responsible use of natural resources, including energy. Innovation of the Year The Innovation of the Year will be chosen by the conference audience from the winners of the above three categories. Deadline for entry is 9 December. To enter visit www.thefis.org/workspace-show 28 www.thefis.org FIS Innovation Awards, which will be presented at its conference at Workspace Design Show in London