STEEL
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Steel
STARS ALIGN FOR MODULAR STEEL IT COULD BE A SERENDIPITOUS TIME FOR MODULAR STEEL. KRISTINA SMITH EXPLAINS
While 2020 was labelled ‘the worst year ever’ by many, sentiments in the modular steel sector are rather different. “The pandemic has perversely been quite good for us,” says Ryan Simmonds, Sigmat’s pre-contracts director, almost apologetically. The Leeds-based light gauge steel frame manufacturer’s turnover is forecast to reach £37m this year, and it’s a similar story at Wernick Buildings in Port Talbot, south Wales, which expects to turn over £40m. “There has been unprecedented demand in the last 12 months, an order book I could only dream of,”
Modular steel construction has been boosted by the pandemic
says the company’s managing director, Stuart Wilkie. Meanwhile, Intelligent Steel Solutions, sister company to Henley Homes, reports a doubling in turnover during the covid period. These bulging pipelines can’t be attributed solely to the pandemic. There are other forces at work here: the government-led drive towards modern methods of construction (MMC) and their linked sustainability gains; the fear of a Brexit-driven skills exodus; and the introduction of new fire regulations which have put the growth of structural timber on hold for taller buildings – and even low-rise ones.
“We have seen an uptick in people moving away from timber, even the two- and three-storey housing market,” reports Simmonds. Covid has underlined the benefits of having fewer people on site and a more controlled construction environment in the factory. In a year of uncertainty, investing upfront on a project to give certainty of time, cost and quality becomes more attractive. New players to the market certainly see promise for modular steel in the UK. Japanese giant Daiwa House acquired Netherlands offsite specialist Jan Snels in December 2020 and is setting up a facility in south Wales. New venture CoreHaus is preparing a factory in the same region. Investors are on it too. In April 2020 Impact Capital Group, set up by property developers Robert Whitton and Nick Shattock, bought Peterborough-based Lesko Modular – now Impact Modular – with £100m of financial backing already on board. The group has recently set up a fund, Impact Lending, for other would-be sustainable housing developers. Sectors expand There are many types of modular steel systems on offer, panelised and volumetric, largely light gauge steel but some hot-rolled too. Each supplier is different, and each has a different niche or blend of sectors.
22 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER APRIL 2021
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16/03/2021 13:22
