Sharing the Load – Andrew Parker speaks to Construction News

Construction Partner, Andrew Parker, has been quoted heavily in Construction News’ James Wilmore’s latest piece on the role of collaborative risk-sharing in preserving the resilience and capacity of the construction industry in times to come.

Risk-sharing, in the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) words, is vital due to a “sustained, high level of construction firm insolvencies, particularly among SME builders and specialist contractors.” Among the culprits for these collapses are “economic uncertainty and the difficulty of reconciling fixed-priced contracts with price inflation and reduced cashflow.”

This, along with expectations of recession and poor demand conditions, as well as inflationary pressures, means confidence in the sector is contracting.

In this context, then, risk-sharing could perhaps be under threat, and so Wilmore’s article explores the kinds of risk-sharing that are already happening and if they are sustainable.

Parker is consistently quoted throughout the piece on factors such as “fluctuation clauses” (enabling clients to take a “pragmatic approach” to their supply chain), a need for “more collaboration” in the face of inflationary and pricing issues, and how despite the various pressures, “if you’re a big strong contractor, you’re becoming bigger and stronger in this market.”

Read the full article in the March 2023 edition of Construction News, found here.