Meet the experts

Iqbal Johal

Marketing Manager, Galvanizers Association

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Member · BSI B/558
Championing Sustainability in Construction
Editor · Hot Dip Galvanizing Magazine

Connect with Iqbal on LinkedIn

Meet the expert: Iqbal Johal, Marketing Manager

Iqbal Johal is Marketing Manager at Galvanizers Association. He leads the strategy that connects the galvanizing industry with specifiers across the built environment who use its products. He makes sure they have clear, credible information on performance, durability and sustainability.

Leading GA's marketing strategy

Iqbal has shaped GA’s marketing strategy, including its move to digital communications with the aim of making GA’s guidance easy to find for anyone researching corrosion protection. He also developed GA’s BIM content, so galvanized steelwork can be specified directly within digital design workflows, and its CPD seminars and material for architects and engineers.

Championing sustainability in construction

Sustainability is central to Iqbal’s work. He has made it a key part of GA’s strategy because environmental performance now drives how construction materials are chosen and specified.

Member, BSI B/558 – Sustainability of Construction Works. This committee is responsible for UK standards used to assess the environmental performance of buildings and to produce and communicate EPDs. His involvement helps make sure galvanized steel is properly represented as these frameworks develop.
Chair of the European Marketing Committee of the European General Galvanizers Association (EGGA). He leads the European galvanizing industry’s work on life cycle studies and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
Publication of Galvanizing and Sustainable Construction – A Specifiers Guide, a practical resource produced from collaborative European life cycle projects.

Communicating with the construction sector

Iqbal regularly presents seminars to architects and engineers on the importance of corrosion protection and the role of galvanizing in durable, sustainable design. He’s a strong advocate for involving GA early in a project:

“Ultimate efficiency comes from speaking to us during the design phase and thinking about corrosion protection early on, so that we can help optimise the design for galvanizing and ensure that you are working to the relevant standards and specifications.”

Background and qualifications

An engineer's perspective

Iqbal graduated as a civil engineer and worked for a number of years on bridge and transport design projects for two major consulting engineering firms before moving into marketing. That experience gives him first-hand understanding of design deadlines, durability requirements and specifying materials for demanding infrastructure. Combined with his strategic marketing and sustainability work, it means he understands the needs of people working in construction and can communicate the information that matters to them.

Professional standing

Iqbal is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (MCIM).