Construction shortages threaten housebuilding target, industry warns

Government housebuilding plans risk being derailed by chronic shortages of skills and labour, a senior construction industry expert has warned.

Ryan Gilluley, managing director of cost and claim consultants GCM Ltd, said several projects have already been hampered by supply chain disruption, leading to delays and increased costs.

While some problems are short-term and caused by disruption to global logistics following the Covid pandemic, others, particularly with the training and supply of skilled labour, are structural and long-term, Mr Gilluley warned.

In 2017 the UK Government set an ambitious target of increasing the housing stock by 300,000 units a year in England by the mid-2020s. Last year prime minister Boris Johnson promised to simplify planning and weaken locals’ rights to object to development.

The Scottish Government has set a long-term housing strategy, with plans to build 100,000 affordable homes over the next two decades.

Mr Gilluley, whose Lanarkshire-based company provides a series of bespoke Quantity Surveying services for the building and engineering sectors, warned that many large development projects could grind to a halt because clients, developers and contractors can’t agree on a price or programme.

In the year to August, average material costs increased by more than 23%, according to the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Supplies of steel and timber were particularly hard hit with imported sawn or planed wood up by 74% and fabricated stainless steel by 75%.

With the construction industry heavily reliant on materials imported from Europe and on migrant labour, Brexit has also had an impact, according to Mr Giluley.

While a trade deal agreed between the UK and the EU has eased some of the problems, the requirement for all goods imported from the continent to receive UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) certification from January 1, 2022, threatens to generate an industry crisis.

There are only 45 testing facilities across the UK and none are currently qualified to certify certain specialised materials, including some types of glass and adhesives.

Mr Gilluley said: “Everyone in the process is doing their best to identify pinch-points in the supply of materials and labour and, where possible, to alleviate these pressures.

“But there are so many different factors at work that it’s difficult to predict where costs will be in several months’ time.”

He added: “As a result, companies are now trying to procure their supply chain earlier in each project on a fixed price to transfer the material cost risk downstream to their suppliers.

“Everyone wants the organisation down the supply chain to assume the risk but fixing material prices beyond the next six months is incredibly difficult

“The cost of a recent school-building project increased by £5million between it being signed off and the first hole being dug, solely on account of increased labour and material costs.”

The UK is also suffering from a shortage of skilled tradespeople, particularly bricklayers, joiners, plasterers, electricians, and plumbers, as well as hauliers needed to deliver materials to construction sites.

Mr Gilluley said: “Many migrants who returned to Europe following Brexit and at the start of the pandemic have not returned.

“Not only did they provide many of the skills needed for our industry to function effectively, but they were also employed in the construction supply chain

“As well as having a shortage of experienced, skilled tradesmen with more than five years’ experience, we don’t have enough young people coming through which means there is no solution in sight for this problem.”

“While some businesses have been agile enough to cope with the shortages, others have not and the long-term effects on the construction of commercial and residential properties could be devastating.

“Governments at Westminster and Holyrood have set ambitious targets for building new homes but, without the necessary labour and dependable supply routes for materials, it’s difficult to see how it can be achieved.

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Amazon is reported to be planing 260 supermarkets across the UK – with no tills and no cash accepted.

The retail giant is said to be planning the rapid rollout over the next three years reports The Mirror.

Amazon currently has six Amazon Fresh grocery stores in the UK, having opened its first in March this year in Ealing, West London.

Customers scan a quick response code as they enter the shop then put items in their bag.

Cameras and sensors then detect what they have picked and shoppers walk out with their purchases, which are then charged to their account.

A report by website Business Insiders claims documents show Amazon is looking to open another 60 stores next year, 100 in 2023 and 100 more in 2024.

The documents are said to say: “In 2022, we assume a broader rollout of two store launches per week by the end of [the] year. In 2023 and 2024, we are planning 100 stores launched per year, in line with more aggressive opening programmes achieved by convenience stores in the UK in the last five years.”

The report also claims Amazon is looking to open supermarkets in Germany, Spain and Italy next year.

A spokesman for Amazon said: “We do not comment on rumours or speculation.”

Last month Amazon opened its first mini department store outside the US in Kent’s Bluewater shopping centre. The branch sells 2,000 of what it says are its best-selling or most “trending” lines, including books, gadgets, toys and homewares.

Source: Walesonline

Mike Foster CEO of Energy and Utilities Alliance

Remainer Whitehall officials plan EU policy embarrassment for PM Johnson

Fresh from allegations that Whitehall officials are blocking Boris Johnson’s hydrogen plans (Sunday Telegraph 31.10.2021) it now appears that officials are planning to embarrass the Prime Minister by adopting the much ridiculed industrial policy that gave the EU “milk lakes” and “butter mountains”.

Hidden in the detail of the recently published Heat and Buildings Strategy, officials at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are plotting to force British heating appliance manufacturers to make heat pumps, regardless of whether the public want to buy them or not.

Under what is known as the “market mechanism” current boiler manufacturers will be told by Whitehall officials how many heat pumps they need to make or risk being heavily fined if they don’t obey the instruction.

Similar policies adopted by the EU in the past, led to excess supply over demand and the obscene creation of wine lakes and butter mountains.

Commenting on the policy, Mike Foster CEO of Energy and Utilities Alliance said:

“This is the most un-Conservative industrial policy I have ever seen. To force successful British businesses to make what Whitehall officials want, rather than what consumers want, is an extraordinary degree of state-meddling.”

“If consumers want heat pumps, then these manufacturing businesses will make and sell them. But to be fined for not selling something the public currently don’t want is bizarre, more so when Cabinet Minsters accept that heat pumps aren’t yet ready for the mass market. It is almost as if Whitehall officials are deliberately trying to embarrass the Prime Minister by using the tactics he has previously derided the EU for using. It’s the Revenge of the Remainers within BEIS.”

“But the most disturbing aspect of this policy is the sheer lack of understanding in how markets work. If the Government want heat pumps installed, it needs to make them more attractive to consumers. According to the PM, they cost ‘ten grand a pop,’ well beyond the reach of most. People can’t afford them. Without consumer demand, business won’t supply products for fear of creating a mountain of unsold heat pumps filling warehouses across the land, all because Whitehall thinks it knows best.”

For more information, visit, https://eua.org.uk/

Catherine (centre) with employees of Strand Hardware

Up, up and away! Strand Hardware is celebrating its 30^th anniversary as one of the UK’s leading suppliers of door and window hardware including finger protectors, emergency exit and panic hardware, window control systems and glass fittings.

The family-run business, based in Walsall, West Midlands, is marking the occasion by sending a gift to customers and suppliers as a thank-you for their continued support.

Over the years, Strand Hardware has grown – extending its operations, workforce and premises –while managing to maintain the family ethos on which it was based. Many of its employees have worked for the company for more than 20 years – a loyalty matched by a commitment to staff development and welfare.

Said Catherine: “We are not an enormous company; everyone knows everybody else and looks after each other and that has created a sense of team.

“Even though our staff are not directly involved in scheduling, we invest in training so they have a full understanding of the market and extensive knowledge of our products to best advise customers. The key to our success is customer service – we take care of our customers and protect our reputation by going above and beyond supply.”

CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Strand Hardware is now the sole UK distributor for leading European manufacturers including Athmer (finger protection) and Antipanic (panic hardware). It also manufacturers its own range, Duoflex – adjustable folding openers for timber, aluminium, steel and PVCu windows.

Its expertise in ‘niche’ but highly technical products means that it has extensive reach. Walk through the doors of many of the UK’s popular fast-food outlets and it’s likely that you will pass by products it supplies to developers, fabricators and installers through its network of trusted distributors. Likewise, buildings within health and education which require entrances with durable fittings to meet safety and accessibility requirement – are also likely candidates.

In contract, the company also supplies its D-fine range, which is made entirely from 316 stainless steel for specialist installations. Its anti-corrosive properties mean they have been installed in wind farms, oil rigs and costal operations around the globe.

The extensive use of its products has led to it becoming members of a number of industry associations including the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers, the Door Hardware Federation and Council for Aluminium in Building.

Catherine plays an active role among them and will once again sit on the judging panel for the GAI/RIBA Spec Awards taking place next year.

Earlier this year, a sister company, Strand Technologies was launched, offering technology-based solutions for safety, security and control of electro-mechanical devices, including (but not exclusively) windows and entrances. The COVID pandemic propelled demand including fail-safe diagnostics for automatic door systems and occupancy management systems.

Just like its products, Strand Hardware has demonstrated a lasting durability. It has travelled a road with many milestones – chronicled in an illustrative timeline on its website to mark its anniversary www.strandhardware.co.uk – and remains buoyant with a positive future ahead.

For more information email: info@strandhardware.co.uk