James Wates attacks industry disunity

Many in the industry don’t know why they join trade associations or what they stand for, according to Construction Confederation chairman James Wates.

Speaking at the fourth annual Joint Contracts Tribunal Povey Lecture, he said recent research by his company, Wates, uncovered a "whole cottage industry" of more than 300 organisations.

He likened the position to Monty Python’s Life of Brian sketch, which refers to the ‘Judean People’s Front’, the ‘People’s Front of Judea’ and the ‘Judean Popular People’s Front’.

"None of the members of these organisations knew to what they belonged or quite what they stood for. I would suggest the construction industry is not so very far away from that today," he added.

Wates’ comments came as part of his speech entitled

Joining up the dots: How the construction industry should punch its weight.

It focused on how a fragmented industry, both in terms of the numbers of construction firms and the number of associations representing various interests, failed to punch its weight, despite its 8% contribution to GDP.

He added that, in his opinion, contractors had gone backwards, not forwards, with groups such as specialists and housebuilders breaking into their own factions. "We have lost sight of the fact that we have more in common than [what] divides us," he added.

In an honest admission, Wates, who chairs the strategic forum, admitted the industry would not meet its 2007 target of getting 50% of projects, by value, using integrated teams.

"It’s not easy to see why," he said. "Is it that the business case for fully-integrated teams and supply chains has yet to be made?... I certainly believe that there are still too few examples of fully integrated projects… integration seems to means different things to different parts of the supply chain."

[Contract Journal, 18 October 2006, p 3]