CAN was formed in 2015 to better represent regional SME contractors in the North East and has grown to represent more than 500 businesses in the region since.
Joining the board, Kay, president of the Northern Counties Builders Federation (NCBF), brings a wealth of experience. As commercial director at Classic Masonry and Bespoke Concrete Products, he has more than 35 years of experience in the industry. Starting out as a quantity surveyor, Kay has also worked with English Heritage, William Anelay Ltd and Northumbria University.
He said: “CAN has a crucial role to play in championing regional companies. We have the united voice of the SME contractor to lobby and influence organisations not to exclude us from tender opportunities, and we can lend weight to the campaign by highlighting real examples of good and poor experiences of procurement.”
Construction Alliance North East consists of a collection of construction and civil engineering contractor bodies which has a combined turnover of £3 billion. It was founded when Government policy and procurement processes were deemed to isolate regional SME contracting businesses from particularly public sector procurement.
Representing the NCBF Kay’s knowledge of the industry will complement the input to CAN from its other board members. Representation also comes from the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), The Federation of Master Builders (FMB), and National Federation of Builders (NFB).
As a turbulent year comes to an end, CAN has outlined a fair payment policy that will support procurement opportunities across the North East through 2021 and beyond.
Caroline Meehan, vice chair at CAN and Director of FMB, added: “Our fair payment policy is going to be critical to the uptake of local companies wishing to undertake local work as part of a supply chain. We have to ensure that fair payment terms are set out and adhered to, to enable them to manage their cashflow effectively.”
CAN chairman Ken Parkin, who is also a regional director at Keyes Bros. Construction Limited and director at Opion Limited, believes CAN is perfectly positioned to provide this support to North East construction firms. He said: “We are unique. We have the four organisations working together collaboratively to promote regional SME contractors, and it’s not happening anywhere else in the UK.
“CAN will promote the interests of regional firms through the combined weight and influence of the four member organisations, and we will campaign and lobby on behalf of NE firms in a focused and joined-up way – no other organisation can do this. We represent a broad spectrum of regional contractors.”When CAN came together, it enabled regional organisations to share one voice and develop a structure for lobbying the government and national businesses to procure contracts for local companies.
Jeff Alexander was the first CAN chairman and remains on the management board today. As a committee member of CIC Northeast, and CENE and a past president of Northern Counties Builders Federation, he has more than 30 years of construction knowledge behind him.
He added: “At CAN, we ensure that regional businesses have a fair opportunity to benefit from and contribute to construction spending in the area. Collectively our voice is stronger, and it allows us to compete with our larger national competitors when making representations to local and national government, and other decision-making bodies.
Entering 2021, the CAN board aims to level up its efforts, boosted by its newest members. Jack Redfern, chair of Redfern Building Services Ltd and former regional president of BEC, NFB and NCBF, said: “I think our key efforts are centred around ensuring the availability of a consistent, dependable, balanced supply of local tender opportunities for local SME Construction Companies. Because CAN is already well respected within the region, it has access to many ears in procurement circles. It provides an opportunity to truly level up, bringing local work for local contractors employing local people, with all of the spin-off benefits that brings to our regional communities.”
Working with local market places, Ross Markwell is a business development director at Esh Construction and also sits on the CECA and CAN boards. For him, CAN provides a fair playing field for regional contractors and provides a voice for all sizes of local companies.
He added: “As we stand on the cusp of leaving the European Union, it is vital that our new procurement models are beneficial to the areas which they impact. By supporting CAN, we can provide the ‘one voice’ that construction needs.
“We can ensure that we not only provide constructive feedback and advice to clients but that we also challenge them. This means we can highlight where we feel the local agenda is not being supported like it should, thereby ensuring long term stability and sustainability of the local businesses that operate in it.”
