Leader of merged UKCG and specialists’ NSCC invites other organisations to join forces under banner.
The door is open for more industry trade associations to join forces with Build UK, the new organisation’s chief executive, Suzannah Nichol, has said in an interview with Construction Manager.
Build UK, formally launched on 1 September, has been formed by the merger of the 28-strong UK Contractors’ Group (UKCG) and the National Specialist Contractors Council (NSCC), but Nichol has indicated that it could grow in size.
“Let’s get Build UK off the ground now,” she said. “But I fully anticipate that, in the next 12 months, we will see more people and organisations joining, and wanting to become involved. We are inclusive, so if any organisation says: ‘This looks great – we want to be involved,’ then the door is always open. This is not just about rearranging the deck chairs – it’s about working together more collaboratively and more effectively and making a difference.”
Nichol, who takes on the newly-created role having been chief executive of the NSCC since 2002, says that Build UK is already drawing in new members from the specialist contracting sector, attracted to being part of a larger group.
"This is not just about rearranging the deck chairs – it’s about working together more collaboratively and more effectively and making a difference."
Suzannah Nichol
Asked to outline Build UK’s key aims, the former site engineer and health and safety manager, said: “There are over 200 trade organisations in construction, which makes getting across a single or unified message very difficult.
“We aim to be a strong, collective voice for main and specialist contractors. We want to be smarter in how we operate, and smarter in how we communicate with government bodies, the government itself and organisations such as [industry training board] the CITB.”
The merger comes as the industry rethinks its relationship with government, after the re-formation of the Construction Leadership Council reduced the representation enjoyed by its various trade associations within Whitehall.
The industry is also seeking to refloat the Strategic Forum for Construction, which is expected to include Build UK.
But Nichol says her first priority is to integrate the UKCG and NSCC under the Build UK banner – traditionally the two groups have defended their own interests within the construction supply chain, especially on payment.
Nichol believes the merger will give specialist and main contractors greater traction in policy-making. “By reducing the number of voices in construction, we can be clearer in what we do, but you can’t have one voice in construction. There needs to be a group of strong voices with Build UK working with other relevant organisations.
“The next step is to have a conversation and define everyone’s roles. There are a lot of groups and committees that need to be combined so that we can operate as one organisation with everyone together.”
“One example at the moment is skills. We have a well-documented skills shortage in construction, and we can tackle this far better together rather than in separate groups.”
Nichol reports little opposition to the merger, but says there have been questions: “This is quite a large change, and rightly people are interested in how it will work. We are bringing two substantial organisations together, so there are a lot of different conversations taking place. We are looking to find where we have something in common to create a shared agenda,” she explained.
Priorities will be payment, pre-qualification for tendering opportunities, skills shortages, and the industry’s image.
She added: “Payment was one of the catalysts for coming together to form Build UK. When we were having discussions on this we realised how close we were on supply chain delivery, as, of course, everyone wants cash to flow.”
The UKCG was created in 2008 by the Major Contractors Group and National Contractors Federation. The NSCC represented nearly 40 trade associations covering 11,500 specialist contractors.
