New industrial strategy for construction

Government publishes ‘Construction 2025’ – a new industrial strategy for construction from now until 2025

THE Government has published a new industrial strategy for construction to oversee improvements to the industry from now until 2025, in a drive to help boost the economic recovery. ‘Construction 2025’ is a joint strategy which sets out how industry and government will work together to put Britain at the forefront of global construction over the coming years.

Developed over the last six months, the strategy is the result of government working with the Construction Products Association and other industry organizations via the Strategic Forum for Construction to create a long-term vision.

This vision will particularly focus on driving growth, not only for manufacturers and suppliers, but throughout the entire industry, while promoting sustainability, innovation and advanced technologies. The new Construction Leadership Council, in which product manufacturers and suppliers will be a key partner, will provide the direction.

The strategy’s vision for construction in 2025 is an industry that:

• Attracts and retains a diverse group of multi-talented people operating under considerably safer and healthier conditions, and that has become a sector of choice for young people inspiring them into rewarding professional and vocational careers.
• Leads the world in research and innovation, transformed by digital design, advanced materials and new technologies, fully embracing the transition to a digital economy and the rise of smart construction.
• Has become dramatically more sustainable through its efficient approach to delivering low-carbon assets more quickly and at a lower cost, underpinned by strong, integrated supply chains and productive long-term relationships.
• Drives and sustains growth across the entire economy by designing, manufacturing, building and maintaining assets which deliver genuine whole-life value for customers in expanding markets both at home and abroad.
• Has clear leadership from a Construction Leadership Council that reflects a strong and enduring partnership between industry and government.

Geoff Cooper, chief executive of Travis Perkins plc and chairman of the Construction Products Association, one of 18 key industry figures chosen by government to contribute to the strategy, said: ‘An industrial strategy is a great opportunity both for our sector and our country, and we’ve been calling for this kind of partnership for quite some time.

‘This is the start of something new for the construction sector, and it’s a chance to take concerted, co-ordinated action to boost growth and create jobs. We have to get behind it and make it work.’

Dr Diana Montgomery, chief executive of the Construction Products Association, said the Government should be commended for working with industry and setting out a clear, yet achievable, action plan for improvements across the supply chain. ‘This Strategy is not an end but a beginning,’ she said.