#Buildfair4all Conference Recap – What The Speakers Told Us
Thank you to all those that made our sell out conference at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel on 7th June, such a great day. The feedback and support has been overwhelmingly positive, so for those of you that couldn’t make the day, here is a brief summary of what the speaker’s had to say:
Barry J Ashmore – StreetwiseSubbie.com Ltd: Barry spoke in detail about his evidence to a panel of cross party MPs on the late payment epidemic in the UK construction industry, and his proposed solution , in the form of the Fair Treatment Charter. This 12 point charter is a simple yet effective set of procedures that can be easily and cheaply implemented by the industry, putting an end to the stranglehold that main contractors exert by abusing the cash-flow to their supply chains. The Charter was met with much interest and enthusiasm, and Barry is hopeful that very soon it will be implemented by construction businesses across the UK.
Steve Sutherland – Dortech Ltd: StreetwiseSubbie Platinum Buddy Steve became famous around December 2012 when he hit the headlines by taking a massive step for the industry by saying NO! Steve spoke honestly and openly about his personal experiences within the industry and why he decided to take the huge leap of faith in refusing to work with one of the biggest contractors in the UK. Steve said “I would urge anyone to do it, because I decided enough was enough, we [Dortech] went from a £12 million turnover loss making business to a £7 million turnover profitable business.”
Richard Brackenberry – Shakespeares Legal LLP: Richard is an expert in the specialised field of construction legal matters, and talked in depth about recent legal developments that affect the way Specialist Contractors work. He talked about how Specialist Contractors could ensure that they got maximum benefit from these new developments.
Diane Dean – Top Service Ltd: Diane’s company Top Service Ltd helps Specialist Contractors to find out more about exactly who they areactually working for, and she touched on the dangers of not properly checking the credit history of main contractors and clients before bidding on and accepting orders from them, even if you have worked with them in the past!
Natalie Wilson – StreetwiseSubbie.com Ltd: Natalie talked about how social media is not just for kids, and how easily it can be used to promote your businesses. She also discussed briefly how easy it is to learn about and set up, and shot down some common reasons for companies avoiding being on there, with many delegates speaking to her afterwards about helping them to get active!
Justin Perry – Perry Vale Associates: As a commercial consultant for the construction industry and one of the StreetwiseSubbie network of Consultants. Justin sees his fair share of onerous contract terms waiting to trip Specialist Contractors up, and he discussed some of the more common ones and how standing your ground and ensuring you are 100% happy with the terms before agreeing to anything is something more Specialist Contractors should do.
Kevin Sharkey and Nathan Golby – KSA Associates: Kevin and Nathan both took the floor in turn to talk about how ‘cash is king’ and looking after cash flow and working capital in preparation for and during tough times is what will keep Specialist Contractors afloat in the current climate.
Bernard Coleman – WGL Stoneclean: Bernard relatively recently came over to the construction industry from engineering and is an inspiring case in point of how businesses can set up and thrive even in the current economic climate.. Bernard attributes the success of his business to his no-nonsense dynamic pricing, sales and marketing strategies, something which many Specialist Contractors could achieve with the knowledge and expertise of StreetwiseSubbie to support you.
Steve Pilling – Quantum: Steve is another StreetwiseSubbie Consultant, and knows all about the dirty tricks that main contractors pull to try to pass blame, retain payments and cut costs right from the creation of the contract, through to the carrying out of the work on site. Steve highlighted the main dirty tricks that main contractors have and will continue to pull if the industry don’t wise up and put a stop to them. He also went on to tell delegates how to beat them!
[polldaddy poll=7183251]
Follow