There have been some interesting responses to the article below on Buying Welsh.
However, the situation is going to get far worse for small Welsh firms, if the article below from the Contract Journal is anything to go by, especially in a sector which is going to be hardest hit by the slowdown in the economy.
As usual, the Assembly spokesperson's response is completely pointless.
Welsh builders accuse HBG, Interserve and Laing O'Rourke of flouting rules (07 May 2008)
HBG, Interserve and Laing O'Rourke have come under fire from local Welsh builders for carrying out small contracts via the £680m Welsh Health Estates framework deal.
Chris Wynne of Wynne Construction, a family-run building firm in Bodelwyddan, North Wales, has written to the Welsh Assembly and his local Denbighshire health trust, claiming that the three Designed for Life framework members are delivering works below the deal's £5m threshold.
He points to a £13m contract recently awarded to HBG by Conwy & Denbighshire NHS Trust, which includes a £4m contract to deliver a new linear accelerator bunker at Glan Clywd Hospital.
Wynn told CJ: "This really is the last straw. We have been concerned for some time that smaller works are being swept up into the framework. We've already built a linear accelerator bunker at Glan Clywd, so we know these works are well within our remit."
In his letter to the Trust, Wynne warns that the cost of including smaller schemes in the framework, "together with the larger overhead and profit margins of the national companies and additional mark-up from their supply chain partners", will be disproportionate to the project value.
Wynne also warns of the "devastating effect" the increasing use of frameworks will have on local SMEs, local economies and SME skills training.
He said: "SMEs will not engage in training where there is a likelihood of the larger national contractors taking those skills to service the framework agreements."
Wynne is not against framework arrangements, but calls for "an inclusive policy" under all Welsh public sector frameworks with value bands of work let through tiered frameworks.
A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly, which oversees Welsh Health Estates, said: "The Assembly Government recognizes the importance of regional contractors and other SMEs to the Welsh economy and is working closely with Welsh Health Estates to ensure that the Assembly's healthcare capital investment programme benefits Welsh businesses.
"The Designed for Life: Building for Wales framework encourages supply chain partners to employ local workers and subcontractors. The framework is already starting to deliver on these aspirations, with examples in North Wales of a number of local companies securing work on major projects."
As CJ went to press, the three framework members were unavailable for comment.
However, the situation is going to get far worse for small Welsh firms, if the article below from the Contract Journal is anything to go by, especially in a sector which is going to be hardest hit by the slowdown in the economy.
As usual, the Assembly spokesperson's response is completely pointless.
Welsh builders accuse HBG, Interserve and Laing O'Rourke of flouting rules (07 May 2008)
HBG, Interserve and Laing O'Rourke have come under fire from local Welsh builders for carrying out small contracts via the £680m Welsh Health Estates framework deal.
Chris Wynne of Wynne Construction, a family-run building firm in Bodelwyddan, North Wales, has written to the Welsh Assembly and his local Denbighshire health trust, claiming that the three Designed for Life framework members are delivering works below the deal's £5m threshold.
He points to a £13m contract recently awarded to HBG by Conwy & Denbighshire NHS Trust, which includes a £4m contract to deliver a new linear accelerator bunker at Glan Clywd Hospital.
Wynn told CJ: "This really is the last straw. We have been concerned for some time that smaller works are being swept up into the framework. We've already built a linear accelerator bunker at Glan Clywd, so we know these works are well within our remit."
In his letter to the Trust, Wynne warns that the cost of including smaller schemes in the framework, "together with the larger overhead and profit margins of the national companies and additional mark-up from their supply chain partners", will be disproportionate to the project value.
Wynne also warns of the "devastating effect" the increasing use of frameworks will have on local SMEs, local economies and SME skills training.
He said: "SMEs will not engage in training where there is a likelihood of the larger national contractors taking those skills to service the framework agreements."
Wynne is not against framework arrangements, but calls for "an inclusive policy" under all Welsh public sector frameworks with value bands of work let through tiered frameworks.
A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly, which oversees Welsh Health Estates, said: "The Assembly Government recognizes the importance of regional contractors and other SMEs to the Welsh economy and is working closely with Welsh Health Estates to ensure that the Assembly's healthcare capital investment programme benefits Welsh businesses.
"The Designed for Life: Building for Wales framework encourages supply chain partners to employ local workers and subcontractors. The framework is already starting to deliver on these aspirations, with examples in North Wales of a number of local companies securing work on major projects."
As CJ went to press, the three framework members were unavailable for comment.
Comments
I don't know what the answer to this may be apart from a rather extreme 'interventionist' or 'protectionist' way forward to drag Welsh businesses up by their bootstraps. This, however, would not be very popular at all with firms from outside trying to do business in Wales and since most businesseses in Wales are not indigenous it could have a seriously negative effect on employment. Wales is already (wrongly) perceived as being 'the Siberia' of British business and it would be counterproductive to add to this.
Your colleague makes a good point about buying Welsh, but the procurement and business support systems in place over the years put many small and medium sized businesses out of buisness and deprived many other welsh business of opportunities and job and wealth creation locally, because they have never had the full support of the political class in Wales.
So the system forced the hand of most public procurement officers to look elsewhere for goods and services. Turning that around will be hard but at least the arguments about how you create the business capacity to supply these needs are underway.