For John Noble, the presidential position crowns a long involvement in the industry, having owned his own company, John Noble Electrical Contractors, since 1979. With 11 employees, he is one of the many small employers at the core of the influential organisation and he intends to continue the important work he began as vice-president.
John, who will maintain his full schedule of branch involvement and strategy discussions, will use his term of office to focus on his immediate areas of interest, including training, employment affairs and health and safety.
He said that the last few years had been a challenging time, with margins being squeezed all the time. But despite the conditions, he stressed that members were looking forward to a change of mood next year and said that the prevailing sentiment within the sector was optimistic.
He said: “There are major issues ahead, such as wage negotiations with the unions in 2012, but there are also new initiatives and opportunities for our members.
“For instance, there is great potential in the new training centre for micro-renewables which we have established in SELECT’s headquarters at the Walled Garden in Midlothian. This is an area where it is imperative that we impress on customers the quality of SELECT members and the high standards they can expect from them.”
Newell McGuinness, managing director of SELECT, said: “We are extremely pleased that John has been elected to the presidency of SELECT. He will be a very able successor to Alick Smith.
“John has strong experience in the electrical installation sector and has first hand experience in steering his own company through varying economic cycles over many years. He steps up to the plate after two years as vice president and we’re looking forward to working with him very much.”
David Wright, Head of External Affairs at SELECT, said: “John has a wealth of hands-on experience in the sector as well as a good knowledge of both our interactions with other industry bodies and of Scotland’s political environment.”
Both these important posts will allow SELECT to continue to help shape the market climate. By representing the industry to government, SELECT influences legislation to create industry conditions which enable member firms to both provide a quality service to their clients and operate profitably at the same time.