A London-based representative body that brings together main contractors, specialist trade associations and clients to improve the UK construction industry.
Build UK is a representative organisation for the UK construction industry. It brings together organisations from across the supply chain to promote the value of construction and push for changes that benefit the industry, its clients and the UK economy. Its membership includes private and public sector clients, contractors, trade associations that represent specialist contractors, professional services firms and other organisations committed to working together. According to Wikipedia, its members include trade associations representing over 11,500 specialist contractors, and it says it represents over 40% of UK construction.
Build UK was formed from the merger of the UK Contractors Group and the National Specialist Contractors Council, and it launched on 1 September 2015. It aims to transform how the industry operates and to raise productivity, improve performance and build a sustainable approach to skills development and retention. It develops practical solutions that work for the whole supply chain, from the big main contractors to the smallest specialist firms.
Some of its best-known work covers fair payment and standards. It maintains the Common Assessment Standard, an industry-agreed way of pre-qualifying suppliers so that firms do not have to fill in a different questionnaire for every client. It promoted a Roadmap to Zero Retentions, which aimed to end the practice of holding back part of a payment to a subcontractor, and it set out an agenda for reform after Carillion's collapse in 2018. In 2022 it won a Royal Charter Award from the Worshipful Company of Constructors for its leadership during the pandemic.
The organisation is based at the Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London WC1E 7BT. Wikipedia says it has 14 employees, with Suzannah Nichol as Chief Executive and Julie White as Chair. Its pages cover topics such as building safety, business, common assessment standards, and people and skills. We did not find a culture statement, so we cannot describe working life there beyond that it is a small team working with large organisations.
Roles in a small representative body are varied: people who research and write policy, run industry working groups, lobby government, produce guidance, manage events and communications, and support members. It suits people who like economics, politics, law, communicating and persuading, and who want to understand how a whole industry coordinates. For someone aiming to work in construction itself, Build UK is a good name to know because it shapes how contractors and their suppliers do business. Check its website for vacancies.
Website: builduk.org
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