Industry leaders back highly critical Farmer Review

Industry big-hitters have welcomed this week’s government-commissioned Farmer Review, which said construction will end up withering if it does not reform the way it does business.

Mark Farmer (pictured), chief executive of consultant Cast, was asked earlier this year by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) to look at what the industry needs to do become more efficient, including using more off-site methods, and how to recruit more people into it.

Published on Monday, the 80-page report, called Modernise or Die, makes damning comparisons with other industries and comes up with a 10-point action plan.

CLC chair Andrew Wolstenholme, who is also chief executive of Crossrail, admitted: “It does not make for comfortable reading.”

But he said it was necessary because the industry had reached “a tipping point”.

His comments were echoed by Laing O’Rourke chairman Ray O’Rourke who said: “The report shines a light on the serious and systemic issues in UK housebuilding and the wider construction industry, and we cannot afford to ignore them any longer.

“There is significant scope for radical transformation through the adoption of new technologies and advanced manufacturing approaches.”

Mace chief executive Mark Reynolds added: “[The report] underlines the importance of introducing new skills and technology to the sector. We all need to embrace this catalyst for change to attract a new breed of talent to revolutionise our industry.”

The government asked the CLC to commission a report because it is worried there will not be enough people working in the industry in the coming years.

Farmer’s analysis concludes that long-term demographic changes - set to be exacerbated by Brexit - mean the problems of low productivity, low investment and adversarial relationships pose an existential threat to the sector.

Speaking exclusively to Building ahead of publication, Farmer said he was unapologetic about creating “a bit of a burning platform” to try to shake the sector out of inaction.

He said: “I am very clear that if we do not address in short order how the construction industry operates and delivers, we will see a long term and inexorable decline in its fortunes.”

His report finds that the industry could see a 25% decline in the available labour force within a decade, with 700,000 new workers needed in the next five years to replace those retiring.

It says the industry is too fragmented and dogged by low margins, financial fragility, adversarial relationships, poor investment in innovation, a bad public image and no coherent leadership.