Thanks to all those who attended our sell out conference on 7th June at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel.
We have had an overwhelmingly positive response to all of the presentations and the launch of the Fair Treatment Charter, that I would just like to share some of the great feedback with you from the day!
Taskmaster Doors: “Thanks for last week’s do, we enjoyed it greatly and have decided to sign up [as a Streetwise Buddy].”
S+B UK Ltd: My colleague Craig attended the recent Conference and has said that he found it most worthwhile. As a result, I have sent an e mail to Tanya to see how we can best avail ourselves of the services you offer.
Demag Cranes and Components: “I really enjoyed the Streetwise event. I usually say that if I get 5 good pointers from such an event I can use in my business it was worthwhile. I got 11 pointers on Friday [from the Streetwise Conference]!!”
Top Service: “A big thank you for inviting us to be part of your day on Friday. The whole Streetwise Subbie team did a fantastic job of hosting a brilliant day! We have come back with three leads to follow up.”
Shakespeares Legal LLP: “Thanks for the opportunity. It had a great good “buzz”. Barry and Geoff certainly seem to be on to something!
Essential Print Services: “I drove away buzzing my socks off.”
Giles: “I very much enjoyed it!!”
Natalie Wilson: “The atmosphere was amazing; I felt such a buzz like I was really part of something big!”
If you haven’t already told us your thoughts on the day, please do so by commenting below or email me: barry@streetwisesubbie.com. I look forward to reading your comments!
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!
On Friday, 7th June we hosted our sell out conference at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel, where near on a hundred delegates from the construction industry met to discuss how to turn around the dire state of an industry in decline. The buzz at the conference was felt by all as 9 speakers took to the floor to each share their own knowledge, experiences and expertise in a
bid to help Specialist Contractors take control of both their businesses and the future of the industry.
The main attraction of the event was the launch of our Fair Treatment Charter I which was met by an overwhelmingly positive response. Many have hailed the charter as ‘the industry’s fix’ and many more have already downloaded copies from our website with the intent of spreading the word to their peers who could not attend the event. Please click here to download a copy.
Despite what David Cameron says it is clear that many MPs simply do not understand, or don’t want to acknowledge, the full extent of unfair treatment meted out to Specialist Contractors and how this is contributing to the slow decline of the UK construction industry. It really is up to all Specialist Contractors to take action and save our industry for the good of all those that work in it and for the good of the country as a whole..
At StreetwiseSubbie we are in a unique position to understand the plight of the Specialist Contractors whatever your size or specialisation, because we are in touch with literally thousands of you on-line, and our Nationwide Network of Consultants are helping to resolve problems on a daily basis. The Fair Treatment Charter has been launched, and whether the Government take notice or not, the Specialist Contractors of the UK have shown their willingness and readiness to take action and we have provided them with the necessary tools.
The industry is dominated by the big corporate players who have the resources to survive. They also have a stranglehold over their supply chain simply because they control the flow of cash. But, the shocking and grim reality of the situation for the construction industry is that more than 5,000 Specialist Contracting companies have failed since the start of recession, and over 200,000 jobs lost, and that can’t be good for the industry or the economy.
I would just like to say a huge thank you to all that have supported the cause so far, both in speaking at, or attending the conference, or by downloading and spreading the Fair Treatment Charter.
