The Voice of Scaffolding Since 2008 | U.K. Edition
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Mark Parkin Joins Scaffolding Association as Strategic Director
The Scaffolding Association has appointed seasoned industry leader Mark Parkin as its new Strategic Director, in a move set to bolster the organisation’s ongoing efforts to improve safety standards, elevate industry recognition, and support its growing membership base.
With a career spanning 37 years, Mark Parkin brings a wealth of frontline experience to the role. His journey through the scaffolding sector has included positions as an advanced scaffolder, supervisor, managing director, CEO, and operations director. This extensive background gives him a unique perspective on the sector’s challenges and opportunities—from the ground up.
Mr Parkin is expected to play a central role in shaping the Association’s strategy and furthering its mission to promote scaffolding as a highly skilled and essential industry.
Robert Candy, CEO of the Scaffolding Association, welcomed the appointment, describing it as a “perfect fit” for the organisation’s goals.
“Mark’s extensive industry knowledge, hands-on experience, and strategic mindset align perfectly with the Association’s mission,” said Mr Candy. “His expertise will help the Association continue its work in supporting members, driving innovation, and ensuring the scaffolding industry gains the recognition it deserves.”
Mr Parkin, who has long championed professional development and operational excellence within the sector, said he was eager to take on the new challenge.
“I’ve spent 37 years in the scaffolding industry—not just working within it but striving to understand it at its core: its challenges, its opportunities, and the people who make it what it is,” he said.
He added that one of his key ambitions is to help businesses reframe their thinking to overcome common hurdles.
“All too often, I see businesses struggling because they can’t see the options available to them,” Parkin said. “Using the right approach for each challenge requires an open mind and the ability to think outside the box. Sometimes, you just need to reframe what’s in front of you to get a different perspective.”
In his new role, Parkin will work closely with the Association’s leadership team to strengthen member support, champion best practice, and cultivate closer collaboration across the sector. His focus will also include helping to future-proof the industry by encouraging innovation and a more unified voice for scaffolding professionals.
The Scaffolding Association has grown steadily in recent years, becoming one of the UK’s leading trade bodies for the access and scaffolding industry. With Mr Parkin now in post, the organisation hopes to accelerate its progress in building a stronger, more resilient future for the sector.
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Service and Support: The Values Driving Commercial Success for Layher Customers
Service and Support in Action
We spoke to Layher staff members Perry and Joe to find out exactly how they support their customers. Both have great industry experience – Joe has worked for Layher for 27 years, starting as a forklift truck driver and moving into training as his career progressed. He now delivers training and after-sales specialist support to Layher customers, and he has broad experience across the business in sales, training, and support functions. Perry grew up in South Africa, after his Dad, who worked for SGB, got a contract out there. Perry ran his own scaffolding business in South Africa and used Layher Allround as part of his work. He also ran a training centre just outside Johannesburg offering training across a range of scaffolding systems. Layher approached Perry and asked him to put together some training for South African customers, so he already had an excellent working knowledge of the product when he and his wife decided to move back to the UK a couple of years ago. Now working for Layher full-time, Perry offers on-site support and training to customers. “We offer a range of training courses,” says Joe. “Our main training offer is the System Scaffolding Product Training Scheme (SSPTS) course, which we offer to anyone with a minimum of CISRS Part 1 qualification. There’s a basics course for non-scaffolders, and one-day product-specific courses to help people get acquainted with the Allround product and understand how to use it most efficiently. Our other courses include specialist training for bridge trusses, stair towers and temporary roofing, as well as product familiarisation for our customers’ sales teams so that they can pitch to their own customers confidently. Finally, we offer Scaffold Inspection courses, which help to put our customers fully in control of their projects from start to finish.”Dedicated on-site Support
Whether it’s your first build with Layer Allround, or you’ve been a customer for years and you have a complex project to manage, with additional labour on site, Layher’s dedicated on-site support is available to customers at no additional cost. “I’ve worked with our customers on some very complex projects since I joined Layher,” says Perry. “For example, I supported a customer on a project inside the Humanities building at Oxford University. This was a suspended scaffold, so no scaffolding on the floor at all. And I’m currently working on a large bridge project – in all these cases, I study the design to make sure it’s the most efficient and safest design, and then I’ll go to the site to work with the team to make sure they are confident, and that any new people on site understand the system and what they are building with it.”Designing Services to Work for the Customer
One of the best things about Layher’s approach is that it’s completely flexible to the customer’s needs. “On some occasions, where a customer is investing heavily in Layher Allround, we will build training and support into the initial package,” says Joe. “For most customers, though, it’s a case of designing the training and support to deliver what they need, when they need it.” That means that the company might offer SSPTS training at the start of a relationship, and then again when new scaffolders are recruited, or when the customer takes on a larger job and needs more labour. “Of course, we train on the essential product range, but it may be that a customer is using a new product that has just come on board, or that they haven’t used before. We’ll put together dedicated training for that – at our facilities or on-site – to make sure they are confident from the very beginning.”Supporting Clear Commercial Thinking
This practical training is built on by the commercial training which Des Moore runs for Layher customers. Courses include the commercial benefits of choosing system scaffolding, and how to make the most of system scaffolding once you have chosen the Layher option. Des is also very open to creating bespoke courses for Layher clients that support them in particular areas – such as strategic planning or running a successful system scaffolding business.NASC and SAA Unite to Boost Global Scaffolding Standards
Four Pillars of Partnership
The new partnership will focus on four key areas:- Training and Education: Exchanging best practices from the UK and Australia to elevate workforce development.
- Equipment Testing: Sharing knowledge on scaffold and access equipment testing to improve user safety.
- Operational Efficiency: Collaborating on methods to deliver access solutions more efficiently while reducing risks.
- Standards Recognition: Working towards mutual recognition of membership and educational standards.
A Global Network of Expertise
Founded over 80 years ago, NASC represents over 800 members in the UK and offers training, consultancy, and support services. SAA, meanwhile, plays a key role in shaping access and scaffolding standards across Australia and has strong ties within the Australasian construction sector. The new agreement also complements existing international partnerships. Both NASC and SAA have a similar MoU in place with Scaffolding, Access & Rigging New Zealand (SARNZ), forming a growing alliance of industry bodies committed to improving safety and raising the bar worldwide. As the scaffolding industry continues to evolve in an increasingly connected world, both organisations say they are confident this partnership will lead to “high-impact advancements” in safety, innovation and international cooperation.Layher Set to Showcase New Era of Scaffolding at Bauma 2025
A New Look for a New Era
In a move that symbolises its evolution, Layher unveiled a refreshed corporate image, including a newly developed typeface inspired by its scaffolding systems. Designed to reflect the increasing digitalisation of the construction world, the new font draws on the structural clarity of scaffolding bays and levels, stacking letters in a way that visually mirrors the grid of modular scaffolding. “Our new typeface is derived from the Layher logo and symbolises the human actor within a structuring framework,” the company said. “It’s a constructive element, open to change and innovation—just like the scaffolding system itself.”Greener Construction with CO?-Reduced Decks
One of the headline innovations on display in Munich will be Layher’s new CO?-reduced Steel Deck LW, offering a 40% lower carbon footprint while retaining the trusted performance of its predecessor. Certified by TÜV, the low-emission deck helps customers meet sustainability targets and gain a competitive edge—especially in public tenders and funding applications where carbon credentials matter.Next-Level Safety with SoloTower and SafetyPlus
Smarter Sites with SIM and SIM2Field
The integration of digital solutions continues with the Layher SIM process, now featuring the new SIM2Field tool that brings 3D planning closer to real-world application. This innovation improves cost control, transparency, and scheduling for scaffolding operations—essential in an industry where precision and timing are key. Layher will also present new additions to its modular scaffolding range, including:- The Allround Bridging System for heavy-duty spans up to 30 metres.
- The Allround FW System for spans up to 20 metres with minimal components.
- The lightweight Aluminium TwixBeam and high-strength FlexBeam, now available in an O-version compatible with mobile weather protection roofs.