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Industry Resilience Post Brexit and Pandemic


Written by Ian Clarke ian@nodigmedia.co.uk


With 2020 and 2021 to date having been something of a perfect storm for UK industry in general it would perhaps be useful to see how the various aspects of the past 18 months have impacted on the UK Water and Sewerage sector.


With Brexit now becoming a reality, followed closely by the Covid-19 pandemic, there are many aspects of the water and sewerage sector that would be expected to be impacted by the changes that have been experienced. What follows is a snap-shot of some of the comments and experiences of operators in the industry from clients through contractors to equipment and product suppliers.


In an effort, if at short notice, to gain some insight into the effects that the two circumstances have had on the industry as a whole, Drain Trader contacted over 25 organisations and individuals with a set of questions to see what, if any, responses would be forthcoming.


These questions were:


1. Given the vital importance of the Water and Sewerage sector to the health and well-being of the Nation, how in general terms has Brexit impacted your company and its operations in terms of employee availability (more or less available to fill vacancies etc), training and


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competency of the workforce now available (with the gains and losses in numbers particularly overseas recruits) and the impact this has had if any on your work programmes both planned and reactive/emergency response?


2. Howhas the onset of the Covid pandemic further impacted on the above?


3. With the new import/export/residency rules and processes, how has this impacted international staffing recruitment, UK and non- UK manufactured product and equipment availability if at all?


4. Given these circumstances how resilient do feel the UK water and sewerage sector has been over the past 18 months and how do you feel the industry has handled itself and how well has it continued to service its customer base?


5. Howdo you see this changing over the next few years if at all?


6. What do you feel can and needs to be done by the industry itself, Government (National and Local), Trade Associations and others involved with the sector to improve prospects for the industry immediately and in the short term and over the ensuing years?


7. Howwould you expect this to be funded and supported practically?


| October 2021 | www.draintraderltd.com


8. If you have any other comments on the resilience of the UK Water and Sewerage industry that you feel are relevant but not covered by the questions above, please feel free to add your comments here.


Unfortunately, responses were few and far between. However, those that did materialise did provide some interesting points and discussions with some individuals raised further points for comment, as will be highlighted in the following.


WATERANDWASTEWASTER COMPANIES


Surprisingly, none of the water and sewerage companies approached managed to respond to the quest for information. Given the pressures of the past 18 months or more one is surprised that given the ‘essential’ nature of the industry, this would have been an ideal opportunity for the industry leaders to do a bit of trumpet blowing, as there seems to have been little for the consumer to complain about in terms of service or supply. Maybe expecting individual companies to respond was perhaps a little optimistic, but one would have perhaps expected the UK’s Water industry main overseeing Trade organisation. WATER UK to take the opportunity offered to sing the praises


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