Material considerations are now key to a project’s resilience

By Simon Rawlinson2021-04-09T05:00:00

Short-term supply disruption could be an early warning of a longer-term problem for the UK’s construction sector, says Simon Rawlinson of Arcadis

I am a great fan of cycling and was struck last week by news reports highlighting the difficulties that the ultra-trendy Brompton Bike Company were having sourcing critical materials. Not only were some high-end components stuck in containers as a result of the blockage in the Suez Canal, but rising steel and aluminium prices have been causing problems too.

Despite benefitting from a pandemic-induced sales boom, Brompton put its prices up by 6% at the start of the year and the firm is now publicly discussing further increases. That is not great news in a price-sensitive market.

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