News AN INDUSTRY IN RECOVERY
The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating effect on business, with both construction and scaffolding industries feeling the pain. Many firms, in the light of encouragement from the Government, attempted to keep working right through its darkest days – others had no choice but to furlough or even lay off staff. So what has been the impact of COVID-19 in general terms? Grahame Anderson has been taking a closer look ❖ In late June the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson announced that as a nation we’ll build ourselves out of trouble; although there’s little doubt the coronavirus pandemic will continue to have lasting repercussions for the economy. The construction and scaffolding industries
6 | S CAFFMAG.COM
were back in the spotlight, not that they’d been out of it long given the arguments over how the crisis had been managed across both sectors. Some sites stayed open despite social distancing warnings, other firms laid off their workers, and many more joined the much documented furlough scheme.
ADMINISTRATION FOR SOME
The sad news is that life begins after lockdown without 18 construction companies who fell into administration in June. And then the city of Leicester developed a second spike of the virus and again, in line with the national lockdown, construction work that could not be done from home was permitted. Build UK has received lots of enquiries regarding the Construction Leadership Council’s site-operating procedures under local lockdown rules. It said: “The site-operating procedures clearly state that government guidance must be followed, and it is expected that sites will assess the local conditions and respond accordingly. These should include maintaining the social-distancing practices in place prior to
