Construction firms must shed bad habits
A CONSTRUCTION consultant has warned that only building firms which have avoided “lackadaisical attitudes” will survive the current economic downturn.
Neil Pountney, managing director of Solihull-based Emprima, said: “Unpalatable as it may seem, previous boom years – when work was plentiful – lulled the industry into lackadaisical attitudes, which became acceptable and regarded as the norm.
“As a result, our up-and-coming leaders were not driven to continually seek out excellence and find a way to give their clients the edge necessary for them to prosper in their own commercial world.
“World standard attitudes, which are around in pockets, need to be mustered if the industry is take its true place in supporting the spark of a recovery when one eventually occurs, as surely it will.”
Pountney was speaking as the findings of the latest report into the UK construction management market by Plimsoll Analysis were announced. It shows there is a growing gulf between strong and weak companies – with the likelihood that the sector will see “increased failures and takeovers” as economic uncertainty weighs on the market in 2012.
The report, which has individually assessed each of the top 161 companies in the UK construction management sector, suggests that 26 companies are likely to change hands in the next 12 months, while the fact that the year has started with 34 companies already in trouble is the clearest indication yet that 2012 is set to be another turbulent year.
Pountney added: “A construction industry weakened and flat on its face through haemorrhaging profits will not serve the nation very well in its time of need.
“Unfortunately, present market conditions will not be short-lived and, if anything, they are likely to deteriorate in the medium term. So faced with such challenges, the industry has to be more pro-active in finding a new way through the malaise in which it now finds itself.”
