An energising election can inspire innovation

We now have a new government steering the course for the next five years, and one that has the broad support of the construction industry: according to our pre-election online poll, 52% of respondents planned to vote for the Conservatives.

Now that they’re returned to power, the industry is looking forward to a generally pro-business environment, where employers and businesses are given more headroom to operate. 

The change in make-up of the chamber is also extremely striking, with 53 MPs from the Scottish National Party and just eight from the Liberal Democrats.That reshuffling of the political pack presents a challenge for many organisations, including the CIOB, which seek to build influence and alliances among our MPs.

But it’s also energising, with new ideas, thinking and policies likely to emerge both from the benches of the victorious parties, and from the ranks of the newly-introspective Labour and LibDem parties.

One policy initiative likely to be pursued by the Conservatives is “devolution” for regional cities that will be given more freedom to make their own decisions, control local spending and investment, and generally detach themselves from the gravitational pull of the south east. For an industry that’s in hyperdrive around London and just ticking over in other parts of the country, that’s extremely welcome.

Decentralisation of political power will also involve a decentralisation of thinking and ideas: the Northern Powerhouse cities, and indeed the Scottish cities, could become free to innovate and finance new housing solutions, transport solutions, or renewable energy infrastructure. And to deliver these alternative approaches, our cities will need industry professionals able to think outside the box, putting together new types of projects and deals.   

But is the industry able to innovate its way forward? The challenges faced by the four concepts in our CIOB/BRE Dragons’ Den show just how difficult it is to develop an idea that successfully breaks the mould. As well as the issues the panel could advise on – such as patents and protection, marketing and pricing – there was also a sense that the brakes on success sometimes lay in the attitudes and thinking of the individuals concerned.

So, as the interviewees in our vox pop on innovation suggested, the industry needs a willingness to engage with new ideas and younger people, a supportive atmosphere within companies, and university partners. But it also needs individuals who can step back, detach themselves from the established thinking that’s shaping their responses, and see the bigger picture.

The election campaign, and its aftermath, has shown that many established certainties can be overthrown. But what’s true for the politicians is also true for the industry. We need new thinking, new products and new policies, and the courage to recognise that the old ways might not be serving us as well as we thought.

Elaine Knutt, editor