Page 2 - Under The Roof Avonside Group staff newsletter - June 2019

UNDER THE ROOF

The Need to Invest

for Success

IN LAST EDITION’S COLUMN, WRITTEN BY AVONSIDE respond to the challenges of a dynamic and
GROUP’S CEO TONY BURKE, HE COMMENTED UPON challenging sector, to which we must add the pace of
THE KNOCK-ON EFFECTS OF BREXIT ON THE SUB- technological change that is reshaping business
CONTRACT COMMUNITY, CITING THE UNCERTAINTY practices and capabilities at an ever-increasing pace.
AND LACK OF TRANSPARENCY REGARDING BOTH Within every business, there needs to be a clear
MATERIALS SUPPLY AND PRICING AND THE view by each department as to how it wants to
DEMANDS OF LONG-TERM CONTRACTUAL operate, the technology that can support this, and how
COMMITMENT. to identify the ‘gap’ in the knowledge of our people to
— take us there.
Our erstwhile representatives at Westminster have The ‘gap’ is the fundamental challenge for us all,
made no discernible progress since his last column. and whilst the ongoing need to recruit and develop the
The aforementioned scenario is most definitely not technical skills our industry requires through increased
a platform for a sustainable business model, and I apprenticeships is a subject that has been covered
would reiterate Tony’s plea to all parts of the supply many times in this column — and that all the Senior
chain to think longer term in order to preserve the Management team at Avonside feel passionate about
health of the end-to-end supply chain, because if any — this is only a part of the equation.
link becomes overtly damaged, then the whole supply We also have to look at all those areas of staff and
chain suffers. management to ensure that we have the best people,
Aside from engaging in dialogue with our partners and we develop those people and retain them, so we
in both manufacturing and client base, as responsible have a ‘win-win’ situation.
businesses we have to assess what we can do directly We are in the early stages of the Technological
to maintain the success of our individual businesses Revolution and are only just beginning to realise the
moving forward and to face both the challenges and implications of artificial intelligence, microengineering
opportunities that lie ahead. and biometrics, which will impact every area of our
lives and business.
HOW DO WE DO SO? Taking advantage of these developments usually
In my view, we have to both attract the best calibre of happens for early adopters, and in order to do so, we
employee available to us, and thereafter we must must have a strategy to build these opportunities into
invest in and develop them to their maximum our business models and ensure our teams are
performance. thoroughly prepared to deliver.
Let me firstly point out that this is not a column These gains will allow us to think more creatively
addressing recruitment and remuneration — that is a about the supply chain issues we face, allow us to
subject in itself. provide better value-added services to our client base
By a commitment to investing in our people to — better health and safety, improved logistics and
develop them, it is a recognition that the best superior quality of delivery.
businesses prosper as a result of a long-term strategy Many areas of the supply chain are already
to ensure that members of staff are better trained, thinking about these issues and striving for greater
have a clearer direction and are more highly motivated efficiency — areas such as modular and off-site
than their competitors. In this way, they can drive a building will present challenges to the traditional
business forward. methods of construction, and we each need to be able
Training and development cost time and resources to respond or, even better, lead in these critical areas.
— it’s my view that the CITB training levy is a welcomed In this fomenting environment where change is
initiative but somewhat narrow in its focus intended to taking place all around us and at ever-increasing
release funds for the purpose of training and speed, focussed and related development of our
development, that may benefit by broadening its remit people is the only sustainable protection we have
to all staff. against being left behind.
Notwithstanding that perspective, we each have a
responsibility to improve our people’s ability to Andrew Morley, Group Chief Operations Officer

www.avonsidegroup.co.uk