A NEW president has been installed by the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering at the organisation’s annual general meeting.
Lee Davies, from Portsmouth, has taken over as president of the CIPHE from outgoing president Allan McIntosh.
Mr Davies, who is married to Anne, has been in the trade for just under 30 years and worked for Portsmouth City Council as well as being involved in lecturing on all aspects of the trade.
His Vice-President will be Ron Berry, from Inkberrow in Worcestershire, who will take on the role of president in 12 months time.
Not surprisingly Mr Davies has announced that he is to make education and learning his major theme of his year in office.
The new president is also the deputy chief executive of the Institute for Learning (IfL) an organisation he has been involved with for more than six years.
After serving his apprenticeship with Portsmouth City Council Mr Davies went on to become a part-time plumbing teacher at Highbury College in Portsmouth in 1987.
After a series of teaching and management roles at the college he then moved on to become district secretary of the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) Thames and Solent District in 1999.
Mr Davies has also been an active member of the CIPHE since joining as an apprentice plumber in 1982, which has including a period as chair of the Portsmouth and District Brach between 1992 and 1997.
He was elected vice-president of the organisation last year. His long list of achievements include being named a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and in 2009 he was honoured by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh in the City and Guilds of London Institute’s ‘Prince Philip Medal’ awards for his contribution to education and training.
He said: “I consider the depth and breadth of my time at Portsmouth City Council as the main reason why I was able to make the successful move into teaching plumbing at a relatively young age. And it is the learning of the craft of plumbing and heating that I want to make the main focus of my year in office.
“I carry forward into my office the belief that the CIPHE must have an active role in the education and training of future generations of plumbers if it is to be both relevant and credible to future members.
“There is a clear and obvious need for the CIPHE to describe and own its definition of plumbing education, this will enable the institute to articulate its vision for the way forward, what success looks like and to identify the key partners and stakeholders.”