News

Peter Hansford has been in position for a little over a month now as the Government's
chief construction advisor, I wonder how he is feeling having seen the reports
coming from ‘The Streetwise subbie' and the industry in general? Barry Ashmore
of the Streetwise subbie says "Whilst the
aspirational talk of cost saving, innovation, BIM, and low carbon construction
is all well and good, is it what the industry desperately needs right now? The
view from the industry's front-line is that ideas from the centre such as BIM
will not succeed without some specific changes to how the industry is currently
operating. Research has revealed how a deep rooted institutional blame culture,
spurious claims, corporate greed, and endemic late or non-payment is ruining
construction. The industry has never been in a worse state, and one of the UK
economy's biggest drivers is being dismantled piece by piece as a result of
appalling practices and cultural apathy."

 It seems as though large companies and
contractors alike are expecting as a matter of routine to; underpay, withhold
money or expect retrospective discounts when accounts become due. Worryingly
these people think this is an acceptable way to do business.

Never in the field of construction was so much owed by so few to so
many.                        

And
it's only going to get worse as the industry is reaching breaking point,
according to the bleak conclusions drawn by the two extensive surveys of the
‘Streetwise Subbie.com' http://www.streetwisesubbie.com

The
surveys recognise that there are a handful of large main contractors who are
good to work for, but the majority are destroying the industry infrastructure by
underpaying subbies and paying them late, if at all! One of the surveys
responders mirrors our own thoughts;

" Construction is at its lowest ebb. There are far too
many companies, sub-contrators, and main contractors alike, taking on jobs for
Zero or Negative profit"

This
is allowing the end users and general customers alike to assume that this is
the correct value of the industry, when in truth it is a desperation call that
is leading many established companies to rack and ruin. We hope that the SMEs
and specialist sub-contractors who are passionate about our industry that they
have committed their working lives to, realise the power they have to drive the
need for change from within. After all it is us and those alike who actually
deliver the work on site!