» WITH SHOP CLOSURES and production lines halted by the so-called ‘ pingdemic ’, a bout of wide-scale isolations is pushing waiting times for labour and materials to new record lengths . With the average wait time for private jobs in the trades now exceeding three months , there is genuine concern that the industry cannot keep up with demand . Field service management software for 2000 SMEs in the trades , Powered Now , is witnessing the devastating impact this is happening on the industry .

Confidence is currently sky high ; the latest IHS Markit / CIPS construction PMI exceeded forecasts to jump from 64.2 to 66.3 in June . This was the highest reading since June 1997 and well above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction . While this has fuelled vast job creation within the construction sector , there is a deep concern that demand

simply cannot be met while the much of the workforce , who may not have Covid , are being told to isolate . This means that labour will be directed to large-scale commercial work , whilst having a narrowing pool of workers for SMEs to complete their inundated workload .

Furthermore , Brexit has lengthened the supply lines for a number of core supplies from Europe . A significant majority of materials required by UK trade and construction are manufactured or processed in mainland Europe . As the pandemic swept the continent almost all major countries suffered shortages in stock ; now however , manufacturers are refilling the supply chains that are closer to home first , with the UK falling to the back of the queue .

While this should have eased over time and it is encouraging to see a number of efforts to move material production to the UK , the enduring ‘ pingdemic ’

is exacerbating these fears . This has led to further hurt for SMEs in the trades as larger companies have been able to purchase these products at higher prices , to the detriment of their smaller competitors . With fewer subcontractors to choose from too , the forced isolation of hundreds of thousands of Brits is further compounding the issues faced by SMEs in the trades .

Ben Dyer , CEO of Powered Now , discusses the difficulties that are on the horizon for smaller businesses in the trades : “ At Powered Now we are delighted to witness the increase in both order books and confidence . Higher demand for construction and trade services has a real-world trickle down to small and medium trade businesses . However , we are very worried about the implications of stress on the UK supply chain , which is being further compounded by the ‘ pingdemic ’. We want everyone to be safe ,

and therefore believe the track and trace scheme to be necessary . However , we would echo calls from the CBI requiring the government to have more of a sure-footing on free tests available to businesses , along with mask wearing in certain scenarios .

“ We are also especially critical of larger firms choosing to stockpile both materials and labour . The industry is only as healthy as the workforce within it , and these larger companies rely on much smaller contractors to operate , of whom are being unfairly penalised . It is incredibly shortsighted of larger firms to use their leverage over smaller ones . Not only does this hurt the economy but will eventually catch up with them due to their reliance on the SME sector for contract staff . We hope this practice , like Covid , can eventually be eliminated .”

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