It’s Wise Up Wednesday: It’s Not The Fact He’s Gone; It’s What He Said On The Way Out!
When Richard Harrington the Construction Minister resigned on Monday night, his parting shot could have serious implications for your business.
Harrington said that “the government’s approach to Brexit is playing roulette with the lives and livelihoods of the vast majority of people in this country”
And “The clear message I have been receiving from the business community is that the failure to secure a deal … is resulting in cancelled investment decisions, and business being placed abroad…”
And this isn’t just hot air, because the negative impact is feeding through into Glenigan’s highly respected “Construction Review”, with the March 2019 issue littered with warning signs;
“… underlying starts (projects of less than £100m) 12% down on the previous 3 months and 11% lower than a year ago”
“… weak economic growth and continued Brexit uncertainty appear to be deterring private sector investment in new projects.”
“There was a sharp fall in government funded sectors.”
“….combined with the decline in underlying project starts is expected to depress output during 2019.”
“… most parts of the UK saw falls in the value of project starts against a year ago…”
So What?
Right now, you may be OK for work. But what about in 1, 3, 6, or even 9 months-time? How will your order book look then?
The warning signs are there this time and you need to be ready, because falling workloads means lower prices, lower margins and cut throat tendering. And we have all seen where that leads with the failures of Carillion, Dawnus, Lakehouse and Interserve.
Act Now To Safeguard The Future Of Your Business
Here are my thoughts on protecting your business going forward in what are undoubtedly going to be uncertain times ahead.
At Enquiry / Tender Stage
Don’t just price every enquiry that comes through your door, or scramble to get on any tender list you can find.
Please spend a moment or two to consider how you set about generating the best tender opportunities for your business. If you stand back and look at it objectively your sales/marketing process, or lack of it, might shock you!
Take a look at: Lead Pro!
It’s our unique research and telephone calling package that combines high quality researched information with regular UK based telephone follow up which results in high quality, want-to-win enquiries and profit-making orders.
At Contract Stage
Of course everything will be sweetness and light at the Pre-Contract Meeting and you might pay scant regard to the Contractor’s Terms and Conditions. But when things take a turn for the worse, as they often do, the Contractor will be clobbering you with the contract!
So, how about knowing from the outset whether the contract you are about to dive into is onerous. And how about being able to do that for free?
Well now you can with our Checkit Service. So why not Checkit out?
Outstanding Payment and Retention Issues
If you have an immediate payment issue, then we are here to help you and our Consultants are experts at getting the good hard cash in for you guys.
You can give our friendly team a call on 01773 712116 or email info@streetwisesubbie.com and initial advice is free, subject to our terms and conditions, and there is no obligation, no catch, just good honest advice.
And you can also download our free “How to Get Paid” Report.
Whatever You Do – Don’t Prevaricate – Take Action – Don’t Go It Alone
If things are going wrong there is a tendency amongst Specialist Contractors to think that they should know what to do, that it’s all their fault and that they should try and muddle through on their own.
Worse still the Main Contractor may even encourage you to do nothing!
All this is BS! Dealing with problems is time consuming and stressful. And it isn’t easy.
So, if you want to protect your business for the future, or you’re not getting paid, and things are not going according to plan, then please seek our professional advice.
Initial advice is free and our team are really friendly and approachable, so please give us a call on 01773 712116 or email us on info@streetwisesubbie.com.
I hope you found this week’s WUW of benefit, and please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Best regards
Barry
Streetwisesubbie.com
P.S. Please remember that we are here to provide solutions exclusively for Specialist Contractors, Trade Contractors and Subcontractors. If you want access to professional solutions that work, then please give us a call on 01773 712116, or email info@streetwisesubbie.com today.
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