There are obviously many costs to this; but with fewer people on our sites, and less site congestion, in many cases individual productivity has risen and initial feedback suggests standards of quality are also rising.
We are programmed to open our sites eight hours a day, five days a week. For larger sites, where we have two or more resident project staff, is this really the best way to work?
Why not ask our tradesmen to work 10 hours a day, four days a week? This would not only help with site social distances but also reduce travel time and road congestion, and improve the quality of what we deliver for our customers.
Beard has kept 90 per cent of its sites operational throughout this lockdown period. It has been immensely heartening in recent weeks to see the larger contractors, who had mothballed many of their sites, beginning to return to active operations. This is testament to the huge amount of work behind the scenes from cross-industry bodies such as the Construction Leadership Council and trade bodies like the Builders Merchants Federation and the Construction Products Association, to name but a few.
Somewhat unfashionably, I think we should also acknowledge the role government has played. I have personally been in contact with ministers and senior officials at BEIS and the Cabinet Office and I have found them to be highly receptive and responsive. Quite rightly, the government sees construction as important, not just in its own right but as a key driver of the economy as a whole.
One of the biggest problems contractors have encountered in getting back to work is the ability to source key materials and products. This has been something of a vicious circle, as sites closing down inevitably reduces demand for products, leading suppliers and builders’ merchants to shut up shop. This then makes it harder for those sites that do remain open to obtain materials.
One of the less pleasing aspects of recent weeks was the widespread report that a number of firms were withholding payments to suppliers. The CLC rightly commented that this was likely to be detrimental to those firms in the long run and I was glad to throw my own voice in behind them.
It is my strong belief – borne out by experience – that companies that have paid their supply chain promptly and created a high level of trust are the ones who have found it least problematic to keep going during the current crisis. We have kept up communication with our suppliers and maintained our usual payment schedules, with an average time from invoice to payment of 27 days. We believe in treating suppliers fairly because it is the right thing to do – but it is clear to me as well that it is fundamental to the continued success of the business. It makes me confident that we can continue to rely on our suppliers, as they can continue to rely on us.
Developing supply chain goodwill is not something that can be done overnight, but it doesn’t half make a difference if you have it. Companies that have made good payment practices part of their culture over the last few years are, not surprisingly, the ones that have managed to navigate a way through the first phase of the crisis and, in my view, are most likely to survive the impending recession.