微密圈

The days of sending a site labourer to ask the site manager for a 鈥渓ong weight鈥� may be behind us. What once passed for light-hearted banter is now rightly seen as bullying.

That shift proves the industry can change its culture. However, the industry may have metaphorically sent me off to look for that elusive weight as a graduate entering the industry, and I have been waiting patiently since.

I joined the industry in the era of the Latham and Egan reports taking hold. Everything was ripe for change and change was desirable, possible and imminent. Collaboration, lean construction, client centric approaches 鈥� they were all coming and I hoped to be part of them.

So it was with some irony that RLB鈥檚 most recent research 鈥� our annual procurement trends survey 鈥� pointed to now being the time for a shift to outcome-based procurement. It struck me that some of the points raised could have been the findings at the turn of the century, as much as they are now.

What is more, the things stopping us from making the shift had solutions available then, just as they do today. They were different solutions, but they were there.

The problem is not fundamentally broken procurement processes 鈥� it is a lack of motivation to extract more value from them

To pick a few examples, Latham in 1994 called out the need for robust project briefs and revealed serious deficiencies in the preparation of the necessary information for contractors. Our 2025 research identified that only one in five of tenders across industry provide an embodied carbon brief and a similar number define information requirements with clarity and simplicity.

Meanwhile in 1998 a new Labour government commissioned the Egan report. Egan advocated the setting of targets and the measurement of performance to deliver improvement. Our 2025 research found that only 30% of construction projects set any sustainability targets and fewer than one in four of projects involve the supply chain in measuring performance against those targets at the end of the defects period.

The problem is not fundamentally broken procurement processes 鈥� it is a lack of motivation to extract more value from them.

Why does it take decades to turn the industry?

There are some good reasons to be risk averse in our industry. The numbers can be large and costs and schedule prone to spiral when things go wrong. Failures can capture the mainstream headlines, let alone the trade press. Departing from the norm is hard work and to stand out for not following the well-trodden path and seeing a project fail is bound to raise questions.

Introducing change 鈥� be it radical or incremental improvement 鈥� in a conservative industry is unlocked by data-driven decision making. We may now be in the data age, but we are not great at unlocking the value of built asset data and our research showed that procurement may be part of what is killing it. The industry is crying out for good data-driven decision making so that we can use it to deliver better outcomes through procurement processes.

Context is everything

Trying to shift entrenched mindsets can feel like a fool鈥檚 errand 鈥� something I have often questioned in the search for Latham and Egan鈥檚 principles. But our latest research suggests the tide may finally be turning. And as with any meaningful change, timing and context are everything.

Consider how two giants, Blockbuster and Kodak, faced disruption. One failed to adapt and the other hesitated for too long. These lessons remind us that even the best ideas falter without the right context and the courage to act.

Where Blockbuster failed to adapt, Netflix pivoted its business model. Kodak failed to pursue the digital camera as early as 1975 for fear of cannibalising its core business, but it was not until the iPhone placed a camera in everyone鈥檚 pocket that the company filed for bankruptcy. Context is everything.

I really do believe that a few changes in procurement practices can lead to significantly better outcomes. The ideas are not new but they feel contextually more relevant.

That context is in two parts. Firstly clients are asking more from their supply chains 鈥� not least, but perhaps most obviously, in relation to sustainability. At the same time the supply chain is facing more volatile conditions leading to greater risk sensitivity.

Government clients may need to evidence this shift in demanding more, with the spending review, national infrastructure plan and industrial strategy released in quick succession, they all speak to similar themes of 鈥渁ssessment of performance against both outcomes and value for money鈥�.

Stripey paint

Alongside the long weight is the stripey paint. Whether or not you consider the notion a folly, looking at what you are trying to achieve in procurement may in itself unlock the better outcome. We are after an outcome more inspiring than the decades-old magnolia.

Whether you achieve it by two paint colours and some masking tape or by cracking open a tin of my stripey paint is up to you, but don鈥檛 accept that magnolia is the only way.

Given our industry context, it is clear that for procurement, the time for change is now. We need data-driven procurement, with good information requirements empowering data through the life of an asset to improve outcomes. With good data-driven performance management we can incentivise the supply chain towards those outcomes 鈥� in short, outcome-based procurement.

If we embed clear information requirements and use data to drive performance, we can finally shift from process to outcome

The industry has rightly moved on from the days of long weights and stripey paint 鈥� but our tolerance for inertia over procurement reform lingers. That must end. We now have the tools, the data, and (crucially) the context to act.

Clients are demanding more, and the supply chain is ready to respond. If we embed clear information requirements and use data to drive performance, we can finally shift from process to outcome.

The time for waiting is over. Let鈥檚 stop painting in magnolia and start creating impact.

Paul Beeston is RLB鈥檚 head of industry and service insight