Construction needs greater clarity!
Date: March 2020
Of course we want to keep building, it’s what we do, but this is not about what we ‘want’ to do, it’s what we ‘must’ do to keep our people safe and play our part in reducing further risk of infection. Having only recently escaped the grips of the previous recession, the uncertainty of BREXIT and one of the worst winters of continuous rain (conditions
non-conducive to construction) we now face unprecedented times and one where tough decisions have to be made to ensure it is ‘safety first’ whilst safeguarding our businesses.
On Wednesday 25th March, Jenner Group made the decision that it was the right time to cease operations and close down all our live projects – in excess of 20 sites across Kent and Sussex. Consideration was given to keep certain sites moving forwards, a handful of medical centres as prime example, as possibly furthering these would be deemed in the best interests of society, but with ever-reducing material supplies and a supply-chain that was rapidly declining due to self-isolation ruling, we knew it should be clear-cut and all construction activity was immediately stopped.
This was never an easy decision and one that was made even more difficult due to the ambiguity of messages and advice coming from government. The lack of clarity in guidance left many unanswered questions surrounding business continuity and the security of employment for our people, but nevertheless this could not stop us doing what was socially, ethically and morally correct. As anyone who works in construction will appreciate, social distancing is extremely difficult to enforce on a building site – as the many news stories from recent days will serve as testimony to. Our site managers were telling us it was becoming impossible to police and that those on their sites were not within the recommended safe distances, purely due to the nature of the work required. We trust them implicitly and respect their judgement, so we had to listen to them.
As a business that has been in operation for 145 years our core values are very strong and important to us and shape how we do business. Our valued team of highly experienced, dedicated and talented people are what make Jenner. Quite simply, we have a responsibility and a duty of care and could not jeopardise their safety and those who work with us, at the hands of profitability. As a reputable and well-respected regional Contractor in Kent we hoped many others would subsequently follow our lead –
and thankfully they have.
The Directors of Jenner remain confident in our actions and that we can emerge with a fresh outlook, new ways of working and committed to regaining our strong position in the future. The positivity of our team and support received externally from clients, consultants and sub-contractors has been incredibly heartening. Morale remains strong and we will continue to ensure this over the coming weeks and months whilst we remain on lock-down.
The Prime Minster is doing an incredibly tough job, incredibly well and we have full respect for him and his team. We hope now, that many critical, priority decisions have been made and appropriate support mechanisms are in place for businesses and the self-employed, that focus can fall onto the construction sector and re-assess the need for any non-essential activity to continue. It would be encouraging to see a relaxation of legislation with the right measures in place to get Britain building once again, when the pandemic eventually subsides and we are all safe and well once again.
Until then we wish all our stakeholders well, please do keep in touch and we look forward to working with you all in the future.
Martin Sandall
Managing Director
