News analysis with BESA Show more respect
The UK needs its building engineering community more than ever as it searches for solutions to a series of social and economic challenges, but unfair payment practices and contractual bullying are undermining our supply chains, according to BESA President Rab Fletcher
Rab Fletcher BESA President’s Lunch
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n his presidential address to over 100 BESA members and guests at London Scottish House last month, Rab Fletcher said the building services sector had a pivotal role to play in tackling the energy, climate change, cost of living, and building safety crises confronting the country. “These are big problems for the UK, but they are also opportunities for us to demonstrate the value of this industry and why our expertise matters,” he said. However, he fears it will be diffi cult for the industry to deliver the best solutions unless there is fundamental change in the way supply chain ‘partners’ treat each other. “Five years on from the Carillion scandal, bullying
behaviour continues to blight our industry and leaves thousands of SMEs at risk of insolvency,” said Fletcher in an interview following the speech.
As the government embarks on another review of the rules around retentions and the diffi culty of getting large building fi rms to stick to their fair payment pledges, he called on offi cials to be mindful of the fact that the suicide rate among skilled construction workers was the highest of any UK profession in 2021, according to the Offi ce for National Statistics (ONS).
Mental health
“Workplace and fi nancial pressures seem to take a particular toll on the mental health of people linked to construction. Yet during the pandemic the industry showed that it could pull together in the face of a common challenge. There was a spirit of camaraderie and mutual respect that has now sadly dissipated,” the President added.
The Insolvency Service reported that 53% of
invoices across the industry were paid late last year compared with 40% in 2021, and that business failures in construction rose to a 13-year high in 2022 at 4,143. “What other industry would tolerate that sort of
behaviour? What other industry could continue to function with such pressures on its cash fl ow?” asked Fletcher. There have clearly been some improvements.
The trade body Build UK reported that its members’ average payment terms had moved from 45 days to 31 and that there has been “a shift in attitude and behaviour”, but it admitted that there was still a long way to go. The government consultation on amendments to fair payment legislation is open until April 28th. It
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March 2023
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