ECA and HVCA 'convergence' talks progress

Leaders of the electrical contracting and heating and ventilating sectors are taking a "softly, softly" approach to a long-awaited attempt to bring contractors in their industries together.

Some 35 years after initial plans for a merger of all the mechanical and electrical employer associations foundered, contractors are on the brink of drawing up a new blueprint for a single representative body.

But both have attempted to brand the union as a 'convergence' rather than a merger, and stressed that there is no immediate pressure, no fixed timetable, and no set model for the prospective organisation.

Speaking to CJ, Heating and Ventilating Contractors Association (HVCA) chief executive Robert Higgs said: "This is not a merger. That has connotations of a takeover and of winners and losers. That's why we're carefully talking in terms of convergence."

Higgs and Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) chief executive David Pollock also stressed that 'convergence' was not being driven by any cost-cutting imperative.

They have formally notified the separate electrical employers in Scotland (SELECT), the plumbers of England and Wales (APHC), and the Scottish and Northern Ireland plumbers (SNIPEF) of their convergence initiative. There was an open invitation for them to become involved.

The next step is for the ECA council to consider similar backing at the end of this month.