Industry Insights: Overcoming challenges and the importance of consistent service

Caxton Builders Commercial Director, Ian Knight talks to us about managing rising material costs, dealing with industry-wide labour shortages, and the importance of providing a consistent service and quality product.

Tell us about the current growth you are seeing at Caxton Builders?  

“Caxton Builders are looking to rationalise growth in line with their resource capabilities. We have a good strong team of management and labour which we trust to deliver on site and with such, have no plans of any significant growth, beyond that of managed organic growth.

What are the key elements to thriving during a challenging economic climate?

By maintaining consistencies of providing a quality product, on time and safely, we continue to see a steady flow of work in these difficult times. Securing work has become more challenging over the last six months. However, we know that our strategy of sustained business levels and no plans for rapid or dynamic growth means we are not under the pressures of expanding businesses. This means we can continue to ensure we offer the very best value to our clients and deliver our promises.

In which sectors are you seeing an increasing demand?

I wouldn’t say there is a specific sector that appears to be booming, we are still getting a broad spectrum of enquiries throughout the commercial sectors.

What are the main challenges currently within the industry?

Labour resource in all roles has been an issue for many years now, both trades and professionals. We haven’t seen this getting any worse recently, the key is to closely manage your workload.

How are you dealing with labour shortages?

As mentioned above, Caxton manage their turnover very carefully to avoid any danger of over-trading. This remains one of the most challenging aspects of our day to day lives due to the fluid nature of our industry.

How has the business managed the increase in cost of materials?

Over the past two years, material price volatility has been a real issue for everyone. We have seen unprecedented levels and frequencies of increases, which have been almost impossible to manage. This had led to closer relationships with our clients to discuss the best way to deal with these, whether by a fixed price allowance agreement or other methods of trying to capture the potential uplifts. The good news is we have seen material prices stabilise significantly over the past few months.

Can you tell us about Caxton Builders projects for 2023/24?

Without specifics, what I can say is we are extremely confident that 2024 will see a good full order book, based upon the tender pipeline we have. There are some major projects that we have spent significant time engaging with contractors and clients to collaborate and partner with in 2024.

You joined Caxton Builders in 2022 – how are you finding it?

Absolutely loving it! Everybody truly works as a team and Caxton Group has a real family feel to it. This is a challenging industry, and it is good to know everybody is there to help each other when needed”.