NBS, the leading technology platform for the construction industry has announced the appointment of Chris Slinn as its new Chief Revenue Officer. Chris joins as the fourth executive director at NBS and will support the existing board. In the newly created role of Chief Revenue Officer at NBS, Chris will lead
NBS, who have been monitoring BIM adoption in the UK for almost a decade have announced their 2019 BIM survey results which show that overall trends of BIM awareness and adoption have grown from little more than 10% in 2011 to around 70% in 2019. Although the latest report, which
A new strategic partnership between UK-based NBS and Digital Node’s Australian business, was announced this week, aligning both businesses across the two countries. Rebecca De Cicco, Managing Director for Digital Node, will act as a consultant for NBS in Australia, raising awareness of current tools and services available for construction
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
NBS, the leading technology platform for the construction industry has announced the appointment of Chris Slinn as its new Chief Revenue Officer. Chris joins as the fourth executive director at NBS and will support the existing board. In the newly created role of Chief Revenue Officer at NBS, Chris will lead on NBS’s ambitious sales growth, in the UK and globally. Chris has extensive experience of global sales and marketing strategy achievement within the construction sector, experience that has spanned a number of transformational years for the industry, including the move to cloud based offerings. Pair this knowledge and experience with NBS’s leading platform with its unrivalled reputation for supporting customers around the world, NBS is well positioned to achieve its growth. The appointment is a further extension of the continued investment in NBS, following the £31.8m investment in the business by LDC in 2018, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group. I am delighted to be able to welcome Chris to the team and look forward to working with him to drive our business forward. Chris brings a wealth of experience with him which will be invaluable in supporting continued growth in our core UK markets, as well as building our businesses in Canada, Australia and the Asia Pacific region. On starting his new role, Chris said: When I was approached to join NBS, I could immediately see the opportunity for growth both in the UK and Internationally. Our market leading software for specification and collaboration in the construction process, combined with the unparalleled exposure we can provide building product manufacturers – means we are uniquely placed to enable support efficient digital construction. I am genuinely looking forward to working with the NBS team and LDC as we look to take this business to the next level. Formerly in the role of Sales Director for EMEA at Trimble, Chris was accountable for direct sales in Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Romania, France, UK and the Middle East. In 2017 NBS acquired Canada based Digicon a well-established specification content business in this territory, and at the same time set-up a team in Australia. Since then, NBS has collaborated with specifiers, manufacturers and the wider construction sector, to develop the Canadian and Australian content sets. The result being a platform what the industry wants and needs, NBS Chorus, a cloud -based specification platform supporting global design and construction. The use of cloud technology, ensures that those using the new platform have the latest software and global content at all times, improving collaboration and efficiencies across whole teams. Minimising risk and maximising efficiency with access on all devices, any time anywhere. To find out more about NBS Chorus, please visit www.theNBS.com
NBS, who have been monitoring BIM adoption in the UK for almost a decade have announced their 2019 BIM survey results which show that overall trends of BIM awareness and adoption have grown from little more than 10% in 2011 to around 70% in 2019. Although the latest report, which received more than 1,000 responses, does show a 1% decline in adoption, NBS remains confident that BIM will continue to embed itself in workflows as construction continues to move in a positive direction, embracing collaborative and digital ways of working. Commenting on this Dr Stephen Hamil, Innovation Director for NBS said, “In the early days of BIM, some may have equated it to simply generating drawings from a model. “There is now a wider understanding that BIM is about project teams following a common process based on standardised information and collaboration. We think we’re seeing a period of consolidation – where more people understand what BIM really represents and are embedding that into their workflows.” The survey shows that there has been a trend of increasing BIM awareness and adoption across the UK industry, using standards and protocols as the platform for this. This national success will be bolstered with the new ISO 19650 series, creating a standardised digital process across the world based, in part, on the BS 1192 standards. This BIM Report 2019 lists some of the main barriers to the adoption of BIM, such as lack of client demand, the need for training, the time required to get up to speed and a lack of standardised tools. NBS says it has sought to align the NBS content and software to the ISO method of working to allow its customers to more easily produce BIM deliverables within their project teams for clients. NBS Chief Executive Richard Waterhouse commented, “We have seen some negative trends within the report that might suggest the emergence of a ‘two speed industry’ – the ‘BIM engaged’ and the ‘BIM laggards’. “For the advocates, 60% of those who have used BIM have seen improvements in efficiencies whilst 22% of those yet to use BIM have indicated they would rather not adopt it. “In addition, the demand from clients, on both private and government projects, is mixed. The survey suggests that not all clients across the industry are seeing the benefits of BIM. We would expect this to increase as BIM, defined by ISO 19650, becomes more commonplace. “Once teams have had a good experience of working collaboratively using digital processes then they will demonstrate the benefit to the client. The client will then, in turn, request that this process is followed on subsequent projects.” The 2019 NBS survey also indicates that there has been a drop-in awareness of UK Government activities in this area despite the fact that Government’s initiatives led to the ISO standards that were launched at the end of 2018. This drop could be explained by recent changes such as the replacement of the BIM Task Group by the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB). It may take time to rebuild this position in the market. There are however a number of key projects underway, involving Government, industry and academia which may drive greater awareness that will be seen in the 2020 survey. Richard Waterhouse continued, “Overall, there can be no doubt that digital processes and technologies are changing the industry. “Use of the cloud is enabling collaboration, giving the industry the opportunity to break down the silos and form a new approach to information development and distribution. “In addition, the latest International Standards are giving us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to standardise processes across the global industry. This is an exciting time, and we must now take advantage of it to help create a step-change in productivity, transparency and quality within our industry. “At NBS, we have already played a significant role in the UK’s BIM journey and we will continue to do so as we move towards a global digital construction industry. “We have supported the BSI committees that have developed BIM standards, as well as supporting the BIM Task Group’s original core initiatives, where we developed, published and now maintain the Uniclass 2015 classification system, defined in the UK as the system for classifying information on BIM projects in BS EN ISO 19650-2. “This year, our journey to support the global BIM world takes a giant leap forward as we launch a global platform for BIM-related content. “Our ground-breaking cloud specification tool, NBS Chorus, has connected specification clauses, technical guidance and manufacturer specifications for North America, the UK and Australia, dynamically linked to geometry objects and standards, technical and regulatory data. We have, and will continue to develop digital content and to enhance our software offerings to support global BIM processes” For further information about NBS and to download the report please visit https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/national-bim-report-2019
A new strategic partnership between UK-based NBS and Digital Node’s Australian business, was announced this week, aligning both businesses across the two countries. Rebecca De Cicco, Managing Director for Digital Node, will act as a consultant for NBS in Australia, raising awareness of current tools and services available for construction industry professionals, including the NBS National BIM Library as well as the integrated tools and processes enabling BIM. Having founded Digital Node back in 2013 in the UK, Rebecca and her team have grown the business into a global success story working from offices in Australia and the UK. The team work with clients across multiple continents to help them realise the potential of using BIM processes to suit a particular project. On announcing the partnership, Rebecca said: “I am very happy to support NBS in Australia and strengthen our relationship across continents. I have always had a very close tie to the NBS in the UK and therefore supporting their products, business and people was a priority for me personally and for the business.” The partnership marks another successful step for NBS who set up a subsidiary of the company in Melbourne, Australia back in 2017 and have since launched an update to the NBS National BIM Library and NBS BIM Object Standard to increase the use across the country. Chief Executive of NBS, Richard Waterhouse, said: “Digital Node and Rebecca herself have built a highly respected and authoritative business within the world of BIM in Australia and in the UK. “Collaboration is a term we come across time and time again when we talk about BIM; sharing knowledge and insight and working better together – this is our hope for the partnership.” NBS, who provide technical information, specification and BIM tools, recently launched its first cloud based specification writing platform, NBS Chorus. A collaborative specification platform supporting global design and construction, NBS Chorus is aimed at those professionals who need to produce high quality specifications efficiently. The use of cloud technology ensures that those using the new platform have the latest software and global content at all times, improving collaboration and efficiencies across whole teams and minimising risk. Richard continued: “Some of the biggest issues for our customers when it comes to producing specifications are: unstructured content, barriers to collaboration and lack of connectivity between specifications and the rest of the project. “NBS Chorus allows the whole team to work together as one. It connects the people you need wherever they are, provides the whole team with accurate global standards and classifications and connects this all together in a platform built for BIM on a global scale. “We see NBS Chorus as the future of specification and see true value for anyone who wants to come on this journey with us. NBS Chorus for specification writing and NBS National BIM Library for modelling is a powerful combined solution to help provide efficiencies and reduce risk for project teams around the world.” Head of Partnerships at NBS, Sascia Elliott, said: “Digital Node is at the forefront of promoting the benefits of BIM and together we share the same ambition for BIM technology – it was a natural fit to take this global journey together.” To find out more about NBS Chorus, visit www.theNBS.com/Chorus To find out more about the NBS National BIM Library, visit www.nationalbimlibrary.com/en/ To find out more about NBS visit www.theNBS.com
