No matter how the information comes – word of mouth, through the media or the various periodic indicators – one thing is agreed; the nation’s construction sector is in a bad way, consistently and precariously placed on the wrong side of the growth/contraction divide. Indeed, one index forecasts a staggering 16% shrinkage in the sector during 2009. The technical data is unfortunately backed up by lay-offs, redundancies and closures on the ground.
However, even this thunderhead has something of a silver lining.
In the last six months a major builder has bucked the trend, securing contracts worth over £6.5 billion. Its total orders to June are estimated at £12.8 billion. Another company has gained preferred bidder status for a contract worth £35 million. These and others up for grabs are all public sector infrastructure contracts: schools, hospitals, roads, museums. Faced with the scarcity of privately funded projects, builders are fighting tooth and nail to win them.
Those that do win these contracts, apart from being very good at what they do, have another thing in common. That is, a history of going beyond ‘best endeavours’ in attempting to deliver local recruitment and procurement. They have robust working relationships with the sector skills councils, colleges, training providers, job brokers, funding bodies, schools and charities. They get involved with schemes designed to train and employ women, people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, ex-offenders, the homeless and NEETS (young people not in employment, education or training).
And, increasingly, in a time of burgeoning unemployment, when central and local government look to award contracts on more than simply price alone, this track record can mean the difference between a healthy order book and the struggle to survive.
The most forward looking have embraced Corporate Social Responsibility activity and made it a core element of their business model because it works. Corporate Social Responsbility is fast becoming an accepted aid to the all-important maintenance of the bottom line.
The economic downturn has hit the construction sector very hard. When people are losing their jobs and livelihoods it could be seen as highly unfeeling to argue that the bad times could possibly have a progressive outcome. But, switching proverbs, it would be an extremely ill wind that blew no-one any good at all. If there are to be winners when these austere times are done, CSR itself looks set to be one of them, together with those companies who looked into the storm and saw its value.
