Balfour Beatty has announced a record £1 billion spend with small business in 2014 - the largest ever by a UK construction company and a 33% increase on the firm’s 2013 spend.
Balfour Beatty’s UK construction business is the largest in the UK with over 8,000 active supply chain partners, over 75% of which are small and medium sized businesses, working on over 1,000 live projects across the UK at any one time. Balfour Beatty’s own UK workforce amounts to over 20,000 and through its UK supply chain the business provides work and training for people from all educational backgrounds. The £1 billion spend will contribute to supporting around 200,000 jobs within smaller businesses, 50,000 more than in 2013.
Balfour Beatty’s ‘Sustainability Blueprint’ commits it to position sustainability at the heart of its business strategy. The Blueprint includes ambitious targets on the employment of local supply chain members, with performance monitored on every project against specific criteria.
The company is the only UK contractor to have its supply chain spend independently audited to confirm spend with small and medium sized businesses and women-owned business.
Commitment to the record supports Balfour Beatty’s other supply chain initiatives and achievements, including the Supply Chain Sustainability Schoolwhich has provided opportunities to over 700 of its small and medium sized supply chain partners to ensure that they meet increasing national government sustainability requirements in bids for work. The requirements include increasing the recycling of materials, reduction of carbon emissions and direct water use.
In September last year the firm launched its Voluntary Supply Chain Finance Scheme was launched last year and has provided funds of over £25million since then. The scheme enables supply chain partners to access funds earlier than payment terms define in return for a small finance charge, cheaper than typical commercial lending rates, to cover scheme administration costs
Balfour Beatty’s other supply chain achievements include its achievement of the Supplier Diversity Europe accreditation, becoming one of the first FTSE companies to sign up to the Government’s Great Business Exchange and its pledges to support smaller businesses and its first rank out of 500 global companies for its Supplier Code of Conduct by the Red Flag Group.
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