McPhillips – back the builders with action, not just words

Paul Inions, managing director of Shropshire’s award-winning construction and civil engineering company McPhillips, today called on the Government to back the sector with action and not just words.

Responding to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement, he said: “The reaffirmed commitments we heard today on affordable housing, defence spending and infrastructure investment are, on the face of it, encouraging. 

“The Chancellor talked about backing the builders and not the blockers – well, we are ready to build. We have more than 220 directly employed, skilled people based here in Telford, an award-winning apprenticeship programme and a track record of delivering complex projects on time and on budget. The skills, the workforce and the ambition are here. What we need now is for Government to match that readiness with action.

“But, and this is a significant but, we have heard these kinds of promises before. The construction sector has been promised action on housing, on infrastructure, on skills time and again. What we need now is not more warm words but real momentum. Projects need to move. Decisions need to be made. Procurement needs to speed up.”

Paul, chairman of Shropshire Constructing Excellence, part of the Constructing Excellence Midlands network, added: “Every delay costs money, costs jobs and costs communities. The businesses in our supply chain need certainty. The families waiting for affordable homes need certainty. If the Government is serious about backing the builders, then it needs to remove the planning delays and slow procurement.

“So yes, we welcome the direction of travel. But the industry is tired of waiting for the journey to begin. Turn these commitments into contracts, spades in the ground and real investment that reaches the people and places that need it most.”