A new division within the Mineral Products Association will give block manufacturers a louder voice, says Chair Calum Forsyth
With over 500 member companies across 15 product groups, the Mineral Products Association is one of the largest and most influential trade organisations within the construction sector.
It has the funding and the technical expertise to take the lead on some of the most significant issues around the use of mineral products in UK construction, particularly the development of a credible route to Net Zero Carbon and beyond for the concrete and cement industries.
H+H has always been a keen participant in this influential organisation via its membership of the Aircrete Products Association (APA).
However, until the start of 2022, the route for our participation was via British Precast, where block manufacturers worked together with many other precast concrete products.
Having Chaired APA since joining H+H in 2016, I felt that blocks, as the defining product for masonry house building, needed more dedicated focus, so am delighted with the recent merger between British Precast and MPA and the resulting reshaping of MPA.
Under the new structure, there are now two associations: MPA Precast and MPA masonry, focused on the specific needs of their product groups, which relate directly to MPA. APA now sits within MPA masonry alongside the Concrete Block Association.
The effect of this reshaping is to give more exposure and more resource to research, health and safety initiatives and technical guidance for the companies which support masonry housebuilding: still the preferred construction method for the vast majority of the UK’s new homes.
We at H+H are hugely supportive of the work being done by MPA in driving forward both the development of the zero carbon agenda and in performing a vital advocacy role to broadcast the facts about the concrete industry and its role in sustainable construction.