New Chairman for steel certification body CARES

CARES, the steel certification authority, today announced that Wayne Terry takes over as its new Chairman with immediate effect.

Mr Terry, CEO of the Association of British Certification Bodies, joins the Board of CARES as Chairman, replacing Alan Pickett who is retiring following a distinguished career in major national infrastructure schemes and long-standing senior Board roles at CARES, latterly as Interim Chairman.

The announcement of Mr Terry’s appointment to the Board and confirmation of his role as Chairman comes as CARES celebrates its 40th Anniversary. Formed as a three-way body – with government, manufacturers and professional institutions – working to oversee the quality and performance of reinforcing steel in the UK market, CARES has now grown into the world’s leading independent steel certification body, with Mr Terry only the seventh permanent Chairman in CARES’ history.

“Wayne joins the Board and immediately takes the helm as Chairman at a particularly auspicious moment in CARES’ proud history,” explained Lee Brankley, CARES’ Chief Executive Officer. “We are entering our fifth decade of setting and raising the bar in reinforcing steels, with stakeholders across the world now approaching us to ringfence the confidence that comes with CARES assurance.”

Mr Terry, who has led ABCB since 2019, said he was “delighted” to be joining CARES. “I have watched with great interest the pacesetting changes CARES has brought across the construction sector in recent years, particularly in the fields of digitalisation, quality, sustainability and the circular economy where CARES’ contribution has been hugely significant across this important industry.

“To be able to work with distinguished colleagues on the Board at CARES, and the leadership team brought together by Lee, is a tremendous opportunity and I am thrilled to be joining at this time.”

Since its formation in 1983 CARES has seen its reach grow from just one market in the UK to more than 50 countries globally with over 100 steel manufacturers choosing CARES’ assurance services.

During the pandemic Mr Brankley and the CARES Board took the strategic decision to accelerate digitalisation, with the rollout of CARES sector-leading CARES Cloud App offering full product provenance on every batch of reinforcing steel released into the market by approved suppliers.

Full product traceability – from source to site – has brought a “transformation” in the international supply chain, said Mr Brankley, but there is “much more work to do – and we very much look forward to learning from Wayne’s unrivalled experience across the certification sector in guiding CARES to the next level.”

In his non-executive role Mr Terry will build on a career which has involved significant certification, accreditation and regulatory standards experience both in the UK and internationally. He has been a member of various national and international standards and certification committees, including Membership Director of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) prior to joining ABCB.