As a continuation of the company’s declaration to both encourage and promote innovation for the benefit of the customer, Travis Perkins has gone out of its way to highlight some of the most prominent issues, or “headaches” currently prevalent in the industry. As for the concepts themselves, it is reported that they became apparent upon Travis Perkins conversing with a mixture of industry manufacturers, housebuilders, contractors and members of staff.

Of the key gripes, the weather in the UK was noted to be one of those challenges shared by many individuals across the sector. Notoriously poor weather has always been something of a gripe for the UK as a whole, but within the construction sector it is something to which many organisations attribute a degree of their construction delays, the reduced effectiveness of some building products, and a deprecation of working conditions and overall productivities.

It’s of no real surprise that another of the key areas highlighted was health and safety, being something that presently places more limiters on what can be done more than any other construction concept. Incorporating areas such as working from heights and the use of heavy equipment and materials, the potential for injury within the construction sector has always, and perhaps always will be something of an annoyance to the industry itself.

As has also been reported, the skills shortage was also highlighted as one of the other key areas of challenges, which has placed severe brakes on the continued growth of the sector; this also being something very difficult for the average SME to be able to overcome without dedicating a great deal more attention to community engagement and recruitment strategy.

Travis Perkins’ Group Strategy Director, Norman Bell commented: “This is a golden opportunity for those in construction who face daily problems that are a barrier to progress and profit, as well as for creative minds that want to make a difference to a vital industry sector.”