WORKING TOGETHER CORONAVIRUS
By John McKinney Secretary, National Federation of Roofing Contractors, Stone Federation and Scottish Contractors Group
N
ice to see you, to see you nice! Construction is the name of the game and I wanna play the game with you! Necessity is the
mother of invention.
This saying appears in the dialogue Republic, by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. I don’t think Plato is often referenced in CABLEtalk and in fairness, I don’t often reference him either. We do indeed live in unusual times (the fact I’ve been asked to prepare this article is testimony to that, perhaps the first three lines of this article show why I’m not asked often) and the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Scottish construction industry created the necessity for collaborative approach from trade associations to work for the benefit of the whole industry. As you’ll have seen on pages 14 and
15, SELECT led on bringing industry together under the Construction Industry Coronavirus (CICV) Forum, raising issues with the Scottish Government and providing guidance for all those who work in the construction industry. The Forum has brought together nearly 50 industry bodies and 78 individuals and has been extremely well received with significant positive outputs. And if it works due to necessity,
26 CABLEtalk JUNE/JULY 2020
Playing the Collaboration Game
surely we can do this in other areas because the necessity is not going away anytime soon.
There is currently real concern about future apprenticeship intakes for the industry. Plus, some of those who currently start a construction-related apprenticeship don’t complete it. We need to ensure those joining the industry make an informed choice to increase the likelihood of them continuing to becoming a qualified tradesperson.
KEYS TO COLLABORATION
● Agree common goals ● Work in collaboration to deliver them ● Ensure there is always an outcome ● Review, improve and repeat – then do it again
This is one area where I have worked in collaboration with others before. We do not pitch one trade against another but look to promote the industry as a whole. There is no point in having lots of roofers if there are no planners, architects, surveyors, electricians, bricklayers etc in the industry. We worked with contractors,
Te CICV Forum has proved that different strands of the construction industry can work together, so it’s vital for this spirit of togetherness to continue after restart to ensure everyone’s a winner
Developing the Young Workforce, CITB, National Federation of Roofing Contractors, Stone Federation GB, Historic Environment Scotland, local authorities, Architecture & Design Scotland, RICS, City Heritage Trusts and Conservation Area Regeneration Schemes, colleges, universities and others to deliver skills demonstrations in high-profile places and schools. By giving school pupils an insight into
a variety of roles within the industry, we can assist them to determine if a career in construction for them, and if so, which one. BUT (and yes, there is always a but),
it is not just the pupils – they have career influencers including teachers and parents, who we encourage to participate and this has exceeded all expectations. We delivered an event in a town where the school couldn’t get a teacher to volunteer to attend and they could only get enough pupils to fill one of the sessions available to them. The next year, we returned to deliver a similar event, albeit slightly further away, and the teachers drew lots because they all wanted to go and the school asked for more places for pupils. We have now been asked to deliver these events in the school on a regular basis, which shows we CAN make a difference. We delivered an event in Perth where the pupils used the council offices to get
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