Major contractors look to save cash for suppliers

Constructionline’s Main Contractor Advisory Steering Group extends industry savings pledge to £50 million.

Twelve of the UK’s largest construction firms have made a pledge to use and encourage the adoption of the Constructionline service to assess consultants and material suppliers – a move that will help save the industry £50 million by October 2016.

This commitment has been made by Constructionline’s Main Contractor Advisory Steering Group, which includes construction giants VINCI, Kier, Wates, Lendlease, Mace, Sir Robert McAlpine and housebuilder Hill Partnership.

The group aims to remove the duplication of information for thousands of companies through the use of bespoke supplier assessment question sets for consultants, materials suppliers and manufacturers and contractors offered by Constructionline.

P22, the Department of Health’s four-year framework worth between £2 billion and £5 billion, recently adopted Constructionline’s bespoke consultant question set as part of the procurement process. Cliff Jones MCIPS MRICS, Head of Construction Procurement Team from the Commercial Division of the Department of Health said “The registration of P22 Primary Supply Chain Members (PSCMs) (this includes Professional Advisors and Consultants in a PSCPs supply chains) on Constructionline assists with the provision of on-going assurance about their technical capability and financial status at any time enabling them to be monitored and their status verified at any time as with all P22 Primary Supply Chain Members (PSCMs).”

According to Constructionline’s poll of its members, including Jewson, Travis Perkins, Crown and Twyford Bathrooms, nearly three quarters (72%) said the new question sets are more tailored to their business and have reduced time spent on completing tender bids.

Neil Mant, Supply Chain and Purchasing Director at VINCI Construction UK and Chair of Constructionline’s Main Contractor Advisory Steering Group, said: “The simple fact is that while access to up-to-date and verified supplier information is vital, the way the industry has traditionally gathered this information has been hugely inefficient and ineffective.

“If more major contractors, developers and house builders worked together in a more collaborative way to assess suppliers, consultants and subcontractors the industry could achieve huge savings at all levels.”