Building Team Construction

Watching England beat Italy in the Six Nations on Sunday, I was struck by the similarities between rugby and the construction industry. 

Now bear with me on this one and all will become clear…

In rugby, every supporter, every player, the coaches, assistants and substitutes are all backing a single aim. To win. And when England did win, I, along with everyone else watching, felt like a winner despite never touching the ball.

In construction we are all behind a single goal. To deliver new infrastructure, new homes and more public and private buildings. 

But in our industry we have the habit of all trying to do everything - to be the prop, the flanker and the fly-half, oh and give the oranges out at half time! 

On the rugby pitch, there is a role for everyone no matter what size, shape and skills you have. But players stick to the position that they are good at to contribute to the win. A prop is just as responsible for that drop kick as the fly-half who kicked it. 

In Team Construction there is a role for everyone to play in delivering our common goal. But we need to ensure that the right person is undertaking the right job, at the right time. 

CIOB is joining Build UK and will be the first member from the professional bodies and we believe that we can play to our individual strengths, working together to turbo charge the rate of change in our industry. 

We will not be precious over who takes the lead on projects - the right organisation will take on the projects that they are most equipped to do. Build UK is leading on developing the industry’s response to Brexit, with the full backing of the CIOB, while CIOBs campaign to stamp out Modern Slavery has Build UKs full backing as the industry response to tackling this important issue. 

We will support and back each other, rucking and mauling to the industry’s try line - delivering change through the supply chain to achieve the goal of new infrastructure, new homes and more public and private buildings. 

Now is not the time to kick for touch, but to be bold, to each play our role in backing Team Construction to transform the industry we all love and celebrating our wins together.