Chief Construction Advisor Peter Hansford joins the debate with BWF and other leading construction trade bodies

Iain McIlwee, BWF Chief Executive

BWF was invited to participate in last week’s Round Table event of leading trade bodies, hosted by the Federation of Master Builders and Peter Hansford.   As Chief Construction Advisor to the Government (an appointment recently extended for the next 12 months), Peter has been pivotal in getting the Construction 2025 strategy up and running and is currently one of the most influential people in construction.  

The discussion covered key subjects linked to Construction 2025 such as improving the image of the industry, the role of the trade federations, inspiring young people, the skills gap, the Richard Review and improving performance in the domestic RM & I market.  It was a well-managed discussion and everybody had plenty of opportunity to air their views, but actually there was surprising little debate.  

Familiar challenges await

Whilst there are naturally subtle differences in the way that we view some of the common challenges facing construction, there was much nodding and agreeing as each participant spoke, with the vast majority of subsequent points reinforcing the initial views rather than conflicting with them.  Peter emphasised he is keen to see better working between trade bodies and I believe he will have been encouraged by what he heard.  

Areas of accord between the eight trade bodies present included recognition of the advantages offsite manufacture brings in reducing the skills demand, improving quality, sustainability and driving efficiencies.  We also shared concerns that the critical role of Building Control is under-resourced – compounding the issue that specifications are not effectively controlled, and this has undermined critical industry objectives around quality, reputation and sustainability.  We also got on to the inherent unfairness in payment practices that sees parts of the supply chain effectively providing cheap finance to others.

Bridging the skills gap

Another subject that kept bubbling up was the importance of apprentices.  Attracting the right people into the industry is a complex issue, beginning locally with firms reaching out and schools offering effective and well informed careers advice.  On this Peter is keen to see construction firms taking a more active role in education, effectively “adopting a school”.  With recruitment is intrinsically linked to perception of the industry, construction needs to offer the promise of a rewarding career. On this area BWF was able to talk about our new ‘Wow I Made That’ website and what we are doing to act as a hub, but also to reiterate our concerns on the direction of apprenticeships.  We have authority in this space – over half of our members currently have an apprentice – but proposed changes such as those in the Richard Review may prevent firms from building on this success, leaving joinery SMEs compromised by reinventing the wheel to suit other sectors.  Again on this point there was agreement and as an action from the meeting we all agreed to sign a joint letter to reiterate this to Skills Minister, Nick Boles MP.

Collaboration remains the key

Construction is an industry, but that doesn’t mean it is one entity. The broader sector is a complex eco-system of interconnected stakeholders and supply chains that at times have perfectly aligned objectives and at times can be diametrically opposed.   What is clear and encouraging from last week is that, just as the industry is changing, so is the representative structure is evolving too and the network is starting to work.  Where consolidation is not possible a new breed of trade bodies are adopting collaborative methods of working.  At BWF we have six guiding principles, one of which is to “be generous in seeking to connect and share knowledge”, this is adopted in all that we do and as a consequence the BWF has a strong relationship with every trade body represented at the meeting, having worked with each and every one of them over the past year.  As active members of the Construction Products Association, the National Specialist Contractors Council and having a lead role in driving consolidation within the timber supply chain, the collaboration Peter wants to see is absolutely inherent in the way in which we work.

Time with Mr Hansford is always useful and not just because of the position he holds. As a man of conviction with a deep and profound understanding of and affection for the Construction Sector, the questions Peter raised proved  insightful, challenging us, the industry, to work together to find the answers.  The plan is to repeat this round table exercise at regular intervals.   We are grateful to our friends at the FMB for organising such an event and I for one look forward to the next one.