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Claire Curran elected BESA president

UK: Claire Curran, managing director of building services specialists Linaker, has been elected president of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) for 2023/24.

Curran has almost 25 years’ experience in the building services industry having previously worked for GSH, ISS, Kier, and Wates.

She has a business and marketing degree, financial qualifications, and an MBA, and says her experience of “hanging around plant rooms for far too long” has also stood her in good stead.

Curran is a former winner of the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) Excellence in a Major Project Award and was also on the shortlist for construction Leader of the Year. She is said to be a strong believer in training and empowering young engineers and has ambitious plans to expand Linaker’s apprenticeship programme.

In her speech to this year’s BESA AGM, she thanked members for showing faith in her and giving her the opportunity to give something back to an industry “that has given me so much”.

She said her presidential year would be marked by considerable change with an acceleration in the adoption of digital systems and a deepening of the impact of new safety legislation.

Curran’s election is an example of the increasing diversity in the industry, and follows on from the recent elevation of B-DACS MD Diane Drummond to chair of BESA Scotland.

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