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The director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is in talks with the government today about reversing the UK鈥檚 trade deficit in construction materials.

Tony Danker is meeting with international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan on finding ways to help firms, particularly SMEs, to export more products.

Trevelyan served as construction minister prior to her appointment to her new role earlier this month.

The talks will focus on how UK firms can increase their share in global markets by developing sustainable products, technology and services.

Speaking at Build UK鈥檚 AGM yesterday, Danker said it was a 鈥渉uge opportunity鈥� for the industry.

He added: 鈥淚t starts with us [developing] our net zero innovation ambitions at home, and then using that IP, that know-how, to become exporters of products and services in your sector.鈥�

The UK鈥檚 reliance on imports of construction products from abroad amid a global shortage of materials has become a major constraint on the industry鈥檚 growth this year.

Danker said the CBI has also been 鈥減ushing hard鈥� for tax and regulatory reforms that encourage and reward research and development in proposals the body has submitted to chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of this autumn鈥檚 spending review.

He said the challenge facing the industry was how to scale up innovations that have become widely adopted, including digital twins, QR codes and 3D printing.

鈥淭he challenge now is to scale this up. And to scale it up really across the industry with breakthroughs adopted by all,鈥� Danker said.

The UK construction industry has been the leading country in Europe for BIM adoption since the 1980s, but a report earlier this year suggested Germany could soon edge ahead.

Since 2017, it has been mandatory in Germany for all projects worth more than 鈧�100m (拢86m) to use BIM. In the UK, only government projects are required to use it following a law introduced in 2016.

Danker said the CBI had also been pressing the government to 鈥渇lex鈥� the post-Brexit immigration system to bring in more skills from abroad, and had been calling for reforms to the 鈥渇ailing鈥� apprenticeship levy.

He added that he would meet Sunak in the next three weeks to ask for more certainty around government investment in infrastructure.

He said a failure to clarify the direction of travel for investments and commitments was 鈥渦ndermining markets鈥� confidence and regions鈥� abilities to level up鈥�.

Speaking on the legacy of the pandemic, he said the industry now had an opportunity to become recognised as a net zero 鈥減ioneer鈥�.

鈥淣ow is the time for us to act, to seize the moment, transform the UK economy to be far more competitive, dynamic and future focused. It鈥檚 what we鈥檒l need to compete in the world.鈥�

The Build UK AGM introduced Osborne chief executive Andy Steele as the trade body鈥檚 new chair following his takeover from former chair, Keltbray chief executive Brendan Kerr.