Reflections and Predictions for Construction

Christopher Wareing is Director of Wareing Buildings and in this feature for UKCO he reflects on a year in construction as well as looking at what 2021 holds for it. 

“Though our year got off to a flying start, with the order book filled up to April as early as the first week of January, we succumbed to the same halt on operations as the rest of the industry in March.

“There seemed to be a mass panic in the sector when lockdown was announced; this was completely unchartered territory. Even during war times – that which has been so commonly used as a metaphor to describe this strange period we are living in – construction continued. But in 2020, there was an uncertainty that no-one had any experience of.

“In hindsight, though every day we weren’t active felt like a week, it was only a relatively short space of time before the government gave construction the go-ahead to restart. It’s heavily invested in developing UK infrastructure, so while the world stood still, construction did not. We were some of the lucky ones. Low interest rates enabled customers to gain the capital to continue with their projects, using the downtime of their staff as an opportunity to refurbish their premises ready for when normality resumed. Though we were sceptical about how many team members could safely return to work, within a matter of weeks we were back to full capacity because demand required it.

“A major hurdle – not just for us, but across the board – was the sourcing of materials. We manufacture our own steel products and are lucky enough to carry stock for three months’ worth of developments. Still, we are reliant on several different supply chains working in harmony to source the products we buy in, such as cladding. But our clients quickly learnt the art of compromise; they could either wait months for the exact product we specified at the start of the build, or they could have their project delivered on time using an equally high quality product that was more easily sourced, but was simply a different colour than planned. Communication became even more crucial to our offering. By conveying that we were pulling out all the stops to meet our clients wishes, it made them even more willing to work together with us, and our partnerships thrived.

“Our heritage is in agricultural buildings, and we’ve seen an even greater surge in demand for them as the country strove to become more self-sufficient. There were already rumblings of this before lockdown, as Brexit and no trade deal talks developed, but Covid-19 – and government grants for harvesting and food manufacturing businesses – enabled growers and processors to ramp up their offering. As a country, we became more reliant on home-based produce, and we were an integral part in helping household name food manufacturers to adapt, to grow and to supply in line with demand.

“It would’ve been naïve of us to rest on our laurels and not put some investment into futureproofing the business. We spent on new machinery and continued working on our digitalisation strategy to ensure we remained at the pinnacle of our sector. Before the lockdown, we had implemented Tekla Powerfab across the business which, almost overnight, made us much more efficient and has proven the best natural evolution for what we do. It has enabled us to retain a level of continuity and, despite Covid-19, we have achieved an almost 10 per cent productivity gain. unlocking capital which we set aside to protect our staff should the going get tough. Thankfully, it didn’t.

“Coronavirus has made businesses much more risk averse; they now know the world has the capability to change in the blink of an eye and they want to make safe investments. Rather than go to tender and welcome unknown suppliers to present their ideas, clients are increasingly relying on word of mouth. Trust, reliability, and tangible evidence of professionalism is driving decision making. Recommendations are the best form of marketing right now, and we’re eternally grateful to those clients who have been happy to pass on a good word about our service.

“Looking ahead, we see steel framed buildings playing a stronger role in commercial and industrial sectors. Online delivery has dominated retail, and to ensure brands can meet consumer demand, businesses are developing satellite warehouses across the country to get products to the end user faster than ever before. Additionally, more corporate organisations are considering the benefits of building pop-up, steel framed offices on industrial parks, rather than renovate dilapidated buildings or empty units on high streets which are teamed with higher overheads.

“We count ourselves lucky every single day that we as a business, and the industry as a whole, hasn’t seen the downturn in productivity that was initially predicted. Seeing other sectors crumble has been devastating, especially when you know construction and clever design played a strong role in their previous success. If the government continues to prioritise incentives which enable businesses to bring teams back, or create new roles, it will spark a new wave of economic activity which might see the country recover relatively quickly. This, teamed with a continual investment into construction which enables companies to modernise and find efficiencies, will drive employment and growth. How long that will take, time will only tell, but we are committed to playing a role in getting the country back on its feet.”

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