MARKET DEVELOPMENT
OFFSITE: AN UPWARD TREND
When Boris Johnson pledged to ‘build, build, build’ to drive Britain’s recovery from the economic shock of the COVID crisis, Gary Parker, Managing Director of modular specialists Integra Buildings, had little doubt that the offsite sector would be leading the way.
1 As the Prime Minister set out his vision last summer, we were already witnessing sky-high demand from within the public sector, including hospitals wanting to rapidly increase capacity to cope with the pandemic and growing schools in urgent need of upgrades. What he did not expect was for the Prime Minister to check up progress personally. He visited two of the projects we’ve worked on over the past year, which I think goes to show how important modular is to deliver on the Government’s infrastructure plans. The first of the PM’s visits was to Hereford County Hospital, where we are working for client MTX Contracts, and installed modular elements for a state-of-the-
70
art, 72-bed extension, as part of the Government’s ‘Project Speed’ initiative, which is injecting £3billion into NHS facilities. The second development, a major training academy for Severn Trent Water, is benefiting 500 trainees from the Government’s Kickstart scheme for young people at risk of long-term unemployment. The success of such high-profile projects is evidence of how the modular building sector has ‘come of age’ over recent years and is now playing a major role in delivering transformative benefits to communities and businesses as they recover from the pandemic. It’s not that long ago that modular buildings were thought of as a cheap, temporary
solution. Now, more and more bluechip companies and public sector organisations are recognising modular as the progressive option. It’s not just that we can deliver at pace, it’s the exceptional quality of the product – as good as anything traditional construction can offer – with added benefits such as sustainability, flexibility and considerate construction. Indeed, with offsite construction reducing build time by up to 50% and waste by as much as 60&, the Prime Minister’s promise to: “build back better, build back greener and build back faster” seems perfectly designed to promote the modular sector.
WWW.OFFSITEMAGAZINE.CO.UK | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021
