The collapse of Carillion and cuts in public service capital spending are having a devastating effect on sub-contractors. Major construction companies secure most of the public service contracts who then sub contract to smaller companies. The pain resulting from the collapse of companies and public sector cut backs is spread across the sub contractors, who often are least able to stand the financial stress. This effect is illustrated by the case of Newcastle Joinery Limited which was taken to the brink and is now fighting back.
At
just 27, Jamie Greenwood, the managing director, borrowed nearly £1 million to
acquire a business, which, ultimately, developed into NJL. For two decades, the
company has manufactured bespoke joinery and commercial interiors, delivered
across various sectors underneath the NJL umbrella: NJL Custodial, NJL Secure
and Yorkline.
Over
the years, NJL has employed specialists in their respective field, all of whom
have possessed attributes and skills to deliver an award-winning product. From
craftsmanship to customer service, the offering is exceptional – illustrated by
playing a pivotal part in helping Whitworth Chemists, based in Scunthorpe, win
back-to-back Chemist and Druggist Pharmacy Design awards in 2017 and 2018.
However,
as has been well-documented, the construction sector has been crippled over
recent years. In January 2018, Britain’s second biggest construction firm,
Carillion, collapsed under billions of pounds of debt. Jobs were sacrificed,
pensions were put in jeopardy and approximately 30,000 smaller subcontractors were
left out of pocket and faced with financial peril.
The
last three years have been particularly tough, but the last six months,
according to Jamie, have been the “worst ever”.
He
explained: “We have been bullied and lost obscene amounts of money as a result
of the construction crisis.
“Working
with main contractors, like Carillion, has left us with terrible bad debts. The
prison service employed us directly for 15 years, but then the maintenance of
prisons was outsourced to Carillion and others and, as we now know, that proved
to be a catastrophic error.
“On
another project, we were employed by a main contractor to assist the build of a
secure hospital; however, once started, the project was delayed, bills weren’t
being paid and, bluntly, we were battered and commercially-bullied as a result
– this happened a lot.”
From
a commercial and personal point of view, this took its toll on the company –
redundancies were made, contracts dried up, and emergency talks took place
within the company about how to stabilise the business.
Jamie
explained how this was achieved, changing the company’s condition from
‘critical’ to ‘stable’: “We had to rationalise our business. Letting people go
was soul-destroying – I think people’s livelihoods and state of well-being have
got lost within the fighting and debt collecting – but we had no choice.
“While
we don’t have a choice in working with large construction firms, as they
pick-up most of the new build and refurbishment projects generally, we are now
mitigating the risk; for example, we manage credit very tightly, obtain credit
insurance or bonds and don’t sign up to contracts with clauses allowing the
construction firm to kill us.
“Whitworth
Chemists is one of our most trusted and loyal clients; we receive a brief,
we’re paid on time and we deliver a professional service on time – that’s how
it should work. We are going back to our roots, manufacturing bespoke
furniture, and not chasing big money orders – that way we have a more
manageable, sustainable and less-stressful business as a result.”
Over
the last few months, NJL has been pounded, been taken to the brink, but with
the tenacity, dedication and experience that Jamie and his experienced senior
management team have at their disposal, he is confident that the company can
return to its former glory and inject some happiness back into a sector that
clearly needs a positive news story.