‘Businesses must prepare for the end of the UK transition period in a planned and coordinated way’
Procurement expert Laura Hobbs has led the way for the construction industry to prepare for the end of the UK transition period. Laura is the UK and Ireland One Procurement Programme Lead at Royal
BAM Group, which is among the biggest construction firms covering England, Wales and Scotland. She said: “We have created a snapshot to give a clear picture for the industry where we believe pinch points are.” Laura explained: “I decided to pull my peers together, all the other main contractors that are part of the Construction Senior Leaders Group which I chair. We decided to write one set of questions for the end of UK transition and also share the workload – to go to all those different product categories key to construction.
“As main contractors we deal a lot with sub-contractors so we need to ensure the message gets further into the supply chain.”
The Construction Senior Leaders
Group also includes representatives from Skanska, Costain, Murphys, Laing O’Rourke, housebuilders Berkeley and clients including Highways UK and Clarion Housing Group.
Manufacturers are employing new customs experts to help them get in position for the new start, creating more strategic programmes to negate any currency fluctuations.
Laura worked with Build UK, receiving useful information around imports and exports from the UK Government.
“Information is the key and preparation is essential. The organisations we work with have been preparing for this for a long time so they are on their final rehearsal now.
“To be able to give your own business the comfort you are going into this in a planned, coordinated way, it is key for people to start the exercise sooner rather than later,” stressed Laura.
She said the new start will bring opportunities to invest in the UK supply chain. “We always see the positives and, definitely for the UK, there are opportunities coming.”