FEATURE


UNDER CONSTRUCTION: A BETTER UK


With government infrastructure investment on the increase, Mark Robinson, Group Chief Executive at SCAPE, explores the role of public sector construction projects in the UK’s economic recovery.


It’s particularly hard to overstate the impact that COVID-19 had on the UK economy in 2020. For those operating in the world of facilities management, it was a case of reacting and adapting to a constantly moving target – ensuring organisations remain open for business while keeping their employees safe. The challenges were immense but were met with resilience.


Now, as we hopefully move towards the post-COVID era via mass-vaccination, the focus of government and business has already shifted.


The agenda has moved from one of reaction to recovery and making sure the economy is best positioned to grow in the long-term, while doing so in a way that levels the playing field across society.


One project at a time Key to this recovery – and perhaps most relevant to facilities managers – will be the evolution of estates, particularly across the public sector. We’ve already seen this playing out in both government rhetoric and policy with the rallying cry to ‘build back better’.


30 | TOMORROW’S FM


For many, that will be viewed in the context of wide- ranging infrastructure projects such as HS2. However, the truest impact will be felt both in terms of the recovery and its environmental benefits if we can do so in aggregate across smaller construction projects.


This ‘marginal gains’ approach is widely backed by academics, including those at the University of Oxford who have advocated for standardised, fast and frugal projects as the way to inject immediate impetus over slower national initiatives. Facilities managers therefore have an important role to play in supporting and implementing construction projects, whether they are new build or retrofit.


Of course, this can’t just be building for building’s sake – and the same sentiment stands whether applied to the public or private sector. It’s about creating better ways of working, living and enjoying life for the long term whilst immediately stimulating the economy through procurement.


There is an opportunity for 2021 to be looked back upon as the starting point for the next generation of public sector- led improvement to UK real estate.


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