Responding to an unprecedented crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed all our lives as we’ve been forced to deal with some unprecedented challenges, whether at home or at work.

As a family business we put people and their safety first. And the current situation is no different.

From the start of the outbreak, the health, safety and wellbeing of those who work with and for us has been at the forefront of our decision making.

That means doing everything we can to safeguard their physical and mental wellbeing.

Our Covid-19 steering group was established at the beginning of this crisis to provide agility and decisive leadership.

And tough decisions have had to be made.

Keeping our people safe meant closing sites and offices, quickly and efficiently. With our operations on hold, we had to take the difficult decision to furlough many colleagues.

Where colleagues could work from home they have and, in many cases, will continue to do so for the time being at least.

Whatever their situation, we have done everything we can to support and stay in touch with our colleagues, providing resources, guidance and advice to help them manage any difficulties they have faced.

Our people have shown enormous resilience and spirit. They have worked together to innovate new ways of operating and kept one another connected.

Where our sites have remained open, for example where we are building hospitals or our people are classified as key workers, such as on road operation contracts, we have adapted the way we operate to comply with guidance provided by the Government, Public Health England and the Construction Leadership Council.

We have developed a fully compliant and continually updated set of operating procedures which are enforced wherever we have people on site or in offices.

As more of our sites start to open in light of the latest Government guidance we are now working to get back to business.

Our Covid-19 steering group has now been expanded to include more representation from across the company as we work together to share innovation, act on lessons learnt, increase productivity and, ultimately, play our part in the nation’s economic recovery.

We have established a remobilisation framework called our 'Back to Business' plan with a set of criteria that must be met, and decisions that must be made, before our people or our project partners set foot back on site or in our offices.

This includes making sure all necessary measures and working practices are in place to ensure the health and wellbeing of our people, and those we work with, is not compromised.

We aim to get our people back to work safely as soon as possible, but this cannot be at any price. If we are in any doubt we will again act quickly and decisively.

Throughout this crisis, the strength of our relationships with our clients and our supply chain has been pivotal in enabling us to react quickly and promptly. We thank all those with whom we work for their ongoing support and especially our people, without whom we wouldn’t be the business we are.