2024 has been another year of ups and downs in construction, and yet the industry is showing resilience. The outlook for 2025 appears positive. The demand for housing and data infrastructure remains high, water and energy infrastructure projects are getting the green light, and road and rail upgrades continue despite their challenges.

Still, it’s a year that saw another record number of insolvencies, including ISG and this has had a definite impact. Change may be happening but so are the same old mistakes, and it’s costing the industry. We look at what some of these are, and discuss them in terms  of skills, productivity, and profitability:

Bidding:

Despite rising material, operational and labour costs, there’s still pressure on bidding teams to submit the most competitive bid. This is challenging especially for estimators who are tasked with providing workable figures, while taking into consideration the multiple factors that could raise prices as the project progresses. When planning permissions are delayed, it make this even harder, with bids often exceeding the original estimates even before projects commence.

It’s no wonder that Estimators are in demand. It takes a high aptitude and strong fortitude to be able to submit estimates that will help maintain project profitability. If main contracts want to increase their margins, maintain a level of profitability and retain top estimators, then the age old habits of low cost bidding, need to be left behind.

Planning permissions:

There’s been much debate about planning permissions and the high cost of wading through all the red tape. Reforms are being promised, but will they be enough to change how the industry operates? In the meantime, main contractors need to work to avoid the hamster wheel of planning permissions. This requires better planning, greater collaboration, and cementing industry relationships to have a stronger collective voice. The industry has the knowledge and expertise, it time to leverage this and let its voice to be heard.

Productivity:

The UK consistently struggles with productivity and the excuses are always the same: Labour issues, sub-contractor issues, material, plant and equipment delays. These are things that can be resolved with skilled planners on site, yet they are few and far between. With planners at the centre of operations it’s surprising that more investment hasn’t been made in developing these skills – they’re certainly in demand. If productivity is to be improved, maybe this should be the starting point.