1.
BUSINESS PRACTICE WORKING GROUP
Matthew Baldwin
Soil Engineering

2.
What does the group do?
 Keep an overview of current business practice in geotechnical and geo-
environmental sector
 Assess best practice in the industry
 Compare interests & requirements consultants and contractors
 Review implications of new standards (European and UK)
 Influence stakeholders (employers)
 Look at commercial issues that might affect members
 Debate topical issues
 Provide guidance notes / documents
 Future issues for the industry
 Monitor effectiveness of the AGS as a whole
 Promotion (marketing) of AGS
 Review applications for membership
 AGS overseas

3.
Standards /codes & publications
• BPWG has a cross section of
consultants and contractors
who can provide guidance on
new standards & publications
• Draw on experience to allow:
 Clarifications for members
 Advance warning of potential
conflicts
• Has links to standards
organisations
• Members on standards and
publication committees

4.
Driving up standards
• Improvement of standards has been
a long sought utopian aim for GI
industry in the UK
• European neighbours also share this
aim!
• Now EFFC have launched an initiative
to achieve this (?) by involving
insurers
• In UK the AGS are going to
collaborate with the FPS to provide
perspective of UK geotechnical
industry
• May lead to a united European front
on this issue?

5.
Driving up standards
 Representation to Employers
• Time to refresh documents
intended to provide employers
with summary of merits of
ground investigations
• Documents need to be:
 Succinct & easy to understand
 Focus on risks involved
 Put the commercial case
 Avoid being too technical
• Separate out guidance on what
good practice is in UK GI

6.
Membership
• BPWG have debated AGS membership
criteria and fees etc for some 18
months
• Much analysis of member firms and
possible fee structures
• Results were completed in Autumn
2014 and main outcomes were:
 Simplified membership categories
 Change to membership fee structure
 Generally a fairer structure reflecting
the size range of member
organisations

7.
Marketing
 Most important current initiative
centred around marketing the AGS
 Well established and respected trade
organisation (due to membership)
 But we need to reach a wider audience
 Debate concerns:
o Making AGS more accessible
o Relevant to all geotechnical / geo-
environmental community
 Students & academics
 Graduates / new employees
 Company's of all sizes
 Laboratories
 Suppliers

8.
Marketing
 New updated and relevant website is
part of the solution
 But much work to do
 BPWG has set up a small sub group
tasked with some blue sky thinking
 Will report back before June’s full
committee meeting with proposals
o Aims:
 Build on existing organisation's strong
foundations
 To ensure we provide something of
interest for whole community
 Primarily UK focussed, but could
provide international ‘excellence
model’?

9.
AND FINALLY…
A new chairperson for 2015 – 2017!
THANK YOU