GUEST BLOG: Mass mobilisation made easy. How to avoid the pitfalls of remote contract work

Picture the scene. Your tender team have smashed it out of the park. You’ve won a major contract and the work starts in an uncomfortably short timescale. Sound familiar?

Suddenly, the realisation of what this actually means sets in; mass mobilisation of teams into new locations, pronto! We’ve all been there, but it’s never comfortable.

Contract work can mean months away from home in unfamiliar locations with different cultures. If commuting is impractical, you’re faced with the prospect of housing staff for mid-to-long periods of time, depending on the nature of the contract.

For projects over a week or two hotels become impractical, costly and, to a degree, claustrophobic. For up to six months, serviced apartment are a good option. Beyond that, we’re talking tailored solutions.

It’s a headache for any business. You need to keep costs down, yet provide accommodation that promotes workforce wellbeing. 

While some will happily bunk up in shared accommodation, that’s less likely the longer the contract goes on. Staff need their own space.

Accommodation has to enable individuals to live and work together productively and in harmony.  Fail to deliver this and the cost of team fall-outs, burn-outs or plummeting productivity can be significant. When you take into account the cost of contract penalties, scrimping on accommodation costs quickly becomes a false economy.

So, what’s the solution? Many businesses task the operations team with sourcing accommodation. The trouble is, few have the breadth of knowledge or global contacts to do this efficiently or cost-effectively.

That’s where a corporate accommodation expert makes complete sense.

Let’s take budget for a starter. A good partner will take your available budget and find an appropriate solution using their skills, knowledge and buying power. You get what you need, where you need it and for as long as you need it at the rate you can afford.

What about risk? Again, a professional will take much of the risk away from you providing an all-in solution for a set price, where due diligence has been undertaken and accommodation matches your precise needs, domestically or internationally. They handle all the hassle - the bills, paperwork and contractual relationship with landlords - leaving you to get on with the job in hand.

From short-term solutions to long-term relocations, sourcing sole and shared accommodation that enhances performance without breaking the bank is key. So, next time you need to make mass mobilisation manageable, without the pitfalls, why not let the experts help.

Phil Stapleton is Founder and MD of SITU, one of the UK’s leading providers of serviced apartments and corporate housing for contractors domestically and internationally

Providing properties for stays of three or more nights in over 500 locations internationally, SITU has a reputation for sourcing and creating sub-contractor accommodation solutions globally, even where stock is scarce or non-existent. 

·       Phil Stapleton will be talking about the core role that accommodation has on contract success, team productivity and workforce wellbeing in Theatre 2 on June 4th at 15:00.

·       Visit SITU on Stand G24 for the opportunity to win up to one week’s accommodation for a team of up to four.

www.situ.co.uk

01392 690 079

Interview with Simon Garwood - R4E Innovation Manager at WMG

Simon Garwood is R4E Innovation Manager at WMG. At The Engineer Conference in June, he is presenting ‘WMG - Electric Vehicle Supply Chain: challenges and opportunities’ on 6 June at 11:15. We caught up with him before the show.

What opportunities exist for UK engineering in relation to creating a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles?

The short answer is every opportunity. The innovation that is facilitating electric vehicles is well understood in this country, if not invented here, so UK engineering companies must be in a position to ‘catch the ball’ and be able to scale up the manufacture.

What are the challenges and how is the market currently shaping up?

To a certain extent, it’s like the Wild West with respect to electrification, with some very modest sized companies supplying key components to OEMs and tier 1s. Scaling up production to be able to keep this business is a key challenge.

Is Government doing enough to help this process? If not, what more should they be doing?  

Government is doing much to encourage UK engineering, though how the support gets to SMEs is somewhat fragmented and confusing. Clarifying the route to support is the first priority.

How do you feel about Brexit and the impact it may have on UK engineering and manufacturing?

Uncertainty can lead to delays in investment and uncertainty is not good for business.

What are you most looking forward to at The Engineer Conference/Expo, Subcon and Advanced Manufacturing this summer?

The opportunity to Network and talk to UK manufacturing companies large and small regarding their readiness for vehicle electrification.

What would you put in Engineering Room 101?

The term ‘Industry 4.0’ as it creates a whole world of understanding and turns into a sales pitch rather than tools to be applied to help improve productivity by improving the information available from processes by linking them together, and most of all creating insight from the data to inform decision making.

The Engineer Conference takes place 4-5 June at NEC, Birmingham, and is co-located with Advanced Manufacturing, The Engineer Expo and Subcon. Register now for a free visitor pass HERE.

GUEST BLOG: Contract crisis! Could staff living conditions be a threat to your business?

When David Beckham first went to play football at Real Madrid, he and his family set up home in the city’s lavish AC Santo Mauro hotel. Team Beckham took two suites for 80 nights, and it’s said the bill came to £430,000.

Living in a luxury hotel for a few months with your family, enjoying unlimited room service, sounds, well, pretty marvellous! But take away the luxury, the family and the room service and you arrive at a hotel experience much more recognisable to the typical sub-contractor. 

Small rooms, limited space, endless take-outs, and living life out of a suitcase for weeks on end can be pretty demoralising, not to say unhealthy.  But there are other implications too, such as the risk of poor productivity and falling motivation – even staff burnout; all of which have consequences for contract delivery and fulfilment.

Happily though, there is an alternative that is more practical, better value, and better for workforce wellbeing too. Offering living spaces, kitchens, storage space, laundry facilities and weekly cleaning services, the serviced apartment has rapidly become the go-to solution for sub-contracting teams around the world. 

Typically costing 20-30% less than standard hotel accommodation, serviced apartments are an option not to be sniffed at, especially where teams live together for extended periods of time.  We’re talking living environments where workers can relax in their own space, cook, entertain and even host friends and family.  The benefits for health, harmony, wellbeing, and the bottom line, are many.

In a world where projects are increasingly time sensitive and contracts are subject to penalty clauses for late delivery, work-life living is fast becoming mission critical.  Get it right and you can reap the benefits. Get it wrong, and the cost could be far greater than you think. 

That’s where working with a specialist serviced apartment provider comes in to play. Here at SITU we work with sub-contractors around the globe, providing cost-effective solutions for everything from apartments for individuals, to multi-occupancy apartments for groups of contract workers. We also provide corporate housing for key staff and their families meaning that whatever your requirements, wherever your project, you can rely on us to deliver to your needs and your budget. 

Phil Stapleton is Founder and MD of SITU, one of the UK’s leading providers of serviced apartments and corporate housing for contractors domestically and internationally

·    Phil Stapleton will be talking about the core role that accommodation has on contract team productivity and staff wellbeing in Theatre 2 on June 4^th at 15:00.

·    Visit SITU on Stand G24 for the opportunity to win up to one week’s accommodation for a team of up to four.

SITU provides properties for stays of three or more nights in over 500 locations internationally, with over 15,000 apartments on its books in the UK and over 36,000 globally; www.situ.co.uk

This post was written by Phil Stapleton, Founder and Managing Director at SITU. SITU is exhibiting at Subcon 4-6 June 2019 - register now for free at www.subconshow.co.uk/register