D&B: A sign of greater confidence?

For nearly a decade Sainsbury has been one of the arch advocates of construction management. In particular, it has shown the method can deliver even on relatively small projects, where others feared CM would prove an expensive over-elaboration.

So it is quite a development to find the retailer now turning to the much-maligned one-stop-shop to source 200 convenience stores over the next three years.

CM and D&B have long been rivals for the title 'procurement form of the future,' even though they represent contrasting schools of thought. Both have promised to increase efficiency and value for money, though by quite different means.

In D&B the way to gains was thought to be to involve the principal contractor at an early stage, allowing his buildability suggestions to be harnessed and giving him sole power over the risky business of design development.

In construction management, the input of trade contractors was thought to be the key. The philosophy was perhaps a precursor to supply chain management, albeit in a rudimentary form relying heavily on client involvement and leadership.

So why has Sainsbury switched to D&B? Probably because keeping abreast of 70 CM projects a year would have required the equivalent of a small in-house department. By using D&B it will outsource much of the management responsibility and spare itself this headache.

In this light, the retailer's switch to D&B can be viewed as a sign of greater confidence in the industry. A handful of players seem likely to be given serial contracts to build a number of stores. If so, they will have an ideal chance to demonstrate a new level of leadership and supply chain management for D&B schemes. The industry will be watching to see if they deliver.