Construction businesses urged to become community champions
Businesses within the Shropshire construction sector have been told that becoming community champions will bolster their success when it comes to winning contracts for public sector projects.
Shropshire Constructing Excellence, the county’s leading network for companies in the built environment, hosted a Meet the Buyer event on July 15 at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings.
The two-hour event brought together expertise from across the area and gave businesses the opportunity to hear first hand about upcoming development projects.
Those attending heard from property and procurement experts at Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council – both of which are looking to deliver a range of capital projects over the next two to three years, in particular across school estates.
Businesses were given an overview of the authorities new procurement frameworks and how to gain access to public sector projects.
And Rachel Best, a member of Telford & Wrekin’s procurement team, advised businesses that to successfully win public sector contracts they needed to demonstrate a high level of social value when it comes to the economy, environment and local communities.
She shared some top tips on how to achieve better social value and urged business owners to reference their efforts when submitting tenders for public sector work.
Paul Moran, chairman of SCE said: “It was a thoroughly thought-provoking event with experts sharing lots of really useful information with businesses from across Shropshire’s construction industry.
“Many companies are already doing lots of great things to support our local communities and many of them have become community champions in their own right.
“They now need to share their good news stories and examples of being socially responsible to improve their chances of winning competitive contracts and we hope they picked up some good ideas and tips on how best to do this.
“It’s clear from the fantastic turnout at this event that we have a thriving construction industry here in Shropshire and that there are plenty of opportunities coming up for businesses to win work on some very exciting projects.”
People attending the event also heard from Andrew Turner from Constructionline and Historic England, which is overseeing the redevelopment of Shrewsbury Flaxmill.
Throughout the year SCE will be hosting a range of events relevant to the sector including seminars on digital construction and diversity in construction.
For more information about SCE and upcoming events, visit shropshireconstruction.co.uk
