Prompt payment helps to plug the skills gap

Scaffolders could certainly teach the government a thing or two about solving problems. At a time when most of us probably feel as though we’ve been waiting on decisions and the word ‘uncertainty’ has been a daily occurrence, it was pleasing to see the Scottish government taking action to benefit specialist contractors by lowering the threshold for project bank accounts (PBA).

Prompt payment is a crucial issue for all businesses. The collapse of Carillion highlighted how SMEs can be exposed when a contractor goes bust, and the future of some can be put into question if a main contractor does not pay.

One recent innovation has been the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group campaign around PBAs. A PBA enables all construction project participants to be paid from ‘one pot’, rather than payments having to cascade down to the supply chain through the different contractual layers. For any contractor wanting timely advice on the workings of project bank accounts, turn to page 10 and read Professor Rudi Klein’s insightful article.

Poor payment practices are a cancer at the core of construction, undermining efforts to be collaborative and destroying trust. Beyond wasted energy, legal fees and the opportunity cost of chasing invoices, poor payment practices undermine progress. Our message is simple: if we are to drive innovation and improve productivity, we need to collaborate and eliminate waste – a good start is to pay what is owed, when it is owed!

Cost pressures have encouraged a culture of lowest price and de-value engineering. In some cases, performance does not suffer, but in others, the unintended consequences can lead to serious failings. Then, when something goes wrong, we look for someone to blame.

We know that everyone in the supply chain has a responsibility, and it will be those organisations that can demonstrate that their people, their processes and the products they use are robust and totally trustworthy that will survive and flourish.

New people skills are in short supply, so we need to offer strong career pathways that will attract new entrants and then allow them to progress.

Making the access and scaffolding sector an attractive career option will be a vital component to encourage new entrants into the sector and plug the skills shortage. But we also need to ensure that those already in the labour pool have the right skills and qualifications to stay active in the sector.

So, let’s keep shouting about the high-profile projects we’re working on, the complex designs we’re creating, and the hardworking and dedicated teams we employ. And let’s keep talking about how access and scaffolding is at the very heart of construction and how the sector provides real reward, job variety and an interesting career pathway for many. But all of this is only possible if we get paid on time.

Robert Candy Chief executive Scaffolding Association www.scaffolding-association.org