Robert ‘Rab’ Fletcher has been elected as the new BESA president for the 2022/23 year, succeeding Neil Brackenridge
The new BESA president is currently mechanical services team manager at Fife Council Building Services. Fletcher describes himself as a “time-served plumber”, with more than 30 years experience in construction and building service engineering.
He is a passionate advocate of training and apprenticeships, and a former chairman of BESA Scotland. He is also lead mentor for Fife Council Building Services mechanical apprentices, of which there are more than 30 working in plumbing/gas and mechanical disciplines. Several of the current group were taken on after being made redundant by private firms.
Fletcher is optimistic about the BESA communities’ resilience
In his address to the BESA Annual General Meeting in London, Fletcher spoke about the difficult economic conditions and their impact on the building engineering sector, but said he remained optimistic.
“This Association has a proud history and we its members are fortunate that we can call on the collective experience and expertise of members past and present,” he said. “The ‘BESA Community’ has given us an amazing repository of technical know-how and business experience.”
“This means we are well placed to navigate choppy waters – and it is always better to do that together, as part of a community of like-minded people and firms, rather than having to work out the best way forward on your own.”
BESA chief executive David Frise congratulated new BESA president Fletcher on his election and paid fulsome tribute to his predecessor.
“We are hugely grateful to Neil for his steadfast service through two unprecedented and extremely challenging years,” he said. “His leadership helped to steer us through some tough times and means we can now look ahead with optimism.”
“Rab has already given great support to members through his work as chair of BESA Scotland and the Local Authority Forum. The whole team are looking forward to working with him on several exciting projects over the next 12 months.”
