Skip to content

News

What makes the public sector so important? featured image June 4th 2018

What makes the public sector so important?

Our Consultant Ellie Russell discusses why the public sector is so important.

The public sector is one of my favourite sectors to recruit for because of the challenge it provides. My clients operate as part of frameworks across London and the South East, working with tighter margins and stringent reporting deadlines. The contractual knowledge need is more diverse with a requirement for NEC, JCT Traditional and D&B all coming in to play; even GC Works from time to time.

Having asked the question, ‘do you have any NEC experience?’ thousands of times and having heard the reluctant, deep exhale of the person due to answer, it does beg the question, ‘are public sector projects worth the hassle that comes with them’? The answer for me is a resounding YES! Whilst NEC comes with its own difficulties and challenges, the open book agreement in place resonates with the way CSC partners with it’s clients in a consultative way; not too dissimilarly to our clients and their framework partners.

So, whilst residential projects remain flavour of the year to coincide with the high demand for housing, the public sector still holds a high importance for the continuation and advancement of our basic human rights for education and health. A steel frame, metsec system build might not hold the funky, fresh finish of Rathbone Place or the glamour of a penthouse apartment in One Blackfriars but it does mean that we are helping to give our future generations the best facilities available.

As well as providing great assets to the community, public sector projects have been at the forefront of sustainable and eco friendly builds utilising anything from sedum roofing to renewable energy sources. Not only this, but the community engagement of working in a live environment has allowed the construction industry to gain a greater exposure to our white-collar managers of the future; from all walks of life. The community liaison teams are even able to offer apprenticeships to the local community.

So, what makes the public sector so important? It not only provides a better environment and chance for our future generations, but for our planet and for the construction industry. What could be more satisfying to build?

Download acrobat reader