Wise Up Wednesday: Enjoy Christmas – Avoid A Bleak New Year
Firstly, let me wish you, your family and your team a very Merry Christmas.
It’s that time of year when we are in party mood and one way or another celebrations abound. And as a family we have something extra special to celebrate this year, as our first grandchildren (twin girls) were born earlier this month, and they are beautiful.
But, the latest signs for construction make me think of Churchill’s famous words when he said;
“We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing; but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead.”
A Harsh Reality Check
Firstly, according to figures released by industry analysts Glenigan, new construction activity has fallen back into contraction, and apart from office construction and fit out in London the signs are not great.
Less surprising, according to Glenigan is that
“…the public sector is continuing to hold back growth. The value of the health sector is forecast to fall by a quarter during the course of 2015 alone: during the latest three months starts were almost 50% down on a year earlier.
The education sector is also in decline. Despite schools funding overall being ring-fenced, government capital programmes do not seem to be making a huge impact on the ground.”
All this follows hot on the heals of the Autumn payment survey by Textura Europe which revealed the grim payment situation you face as a Specialist Contractor, and it all adds up to a bleak picture for the New Year as follows;
- Payment isn’t improving
- Workload is falling (depending on sector and location)
- Contractors are still out to screw you
- The Government doesn’t care about you
- Some Trade Associations have sold you down the river
- The NSCC has joined the Contractors in Build UK and all talk about poor-payment has seemingly been expunged from the record
Sorry to be so harsh but even Construction News (who are not known for supporting Specialist Contractors) included these comments in an article about payment;
Almost all main contractors pay late without justification and poor payment practices are getting worse not better.
No one seems to be willing to tackle [the problem] and they get away with what amounts to fraud day in, day out. T
Tackling The Problem
We want you know that we care!
We want you to know that the Specialist Contractor’s champions StreetwiseSubbie already have lots of free and low cost resources exclusively for Specialist Contractors, and we will soon be launching a multitude of new ones.
We want to support every single Specialist Contractor in the UK, and help you secure your company’s future whatever the economy, and discover solutions that will make an immediate and positive difference in your business.
So come and take a look at the links below and see how our free LinkedIn Group, our free information and our free initial advice can help your business.
And To Help You Avoid A Bleak New Year…
We are already helping lots of Specialist Contractors just like you to market their business for bigger profits, and help them hang on to those profits in this tough commercial and contractual environment, and get paid on time.
And if we are in for a bleak New Year, the consequences of not having the right advice on your side can be catastrophic.
Don’t go there. Take action, but take the right action, at the right time. Waiting to see what happens, or asking the wrong person for advice will not cut it.
If you have any kind of business problem and want some good honest no-nonsense advice then please don’t hesitate to call me on 01773 712116 or email me at barry@streetwisesubbie.com.
And if you are one of our Gold or Platinum Buddies please make sure you take advantage of the free Consultancy at your disposal.
We look forward to keeping you up to date and helping you to resolve all your business problems, and watch out out for our news in the New Year about… (sorry can’t say yet!!)
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