• The Old Bond Store, Back of the Walls, Southampton SO14 3HA
  • 02392 652138
  • From 9:00am Mon - Sat

OPINION: Skilled Labour Services Review of 2019

“The end of 2019 has seen the positive results of the first full year of our growth and business improvement plan. We created this plan in early 2018 and went on to implement it in June 2018.

 

The plan we created was simple, it was to double-down our efforts and focus on improving our service reliability and delivery.

 

We looked at the finer details of our entire operation, right from how we engage new recruits, train up and retain our skilled workforce, as well as how we look after the long term support of our staff to help keep them updated with all the skills and training they need to perform their roles.

 

Overview of 2019

At Skilled Labour Services (Southern), we made a commitment back when we started in 2011 that we would do our very best to look after our workforce. After all, where would we be without them! We take great pride in the fact that this remains a primary objective of the business, and during 2019 we spent over £20,000 on training, investing directly in our highly valued staff that work for us.

 

As well as focussing on our skilled labour force, we also took a critical look at how all our back-office systems work in synchronisation with each other. We aimed to create a completely seamless, efficient, professional service right from start to finish across all aspects of our service.

 

Improving our service delivery

One of the most important aspects of our improvement plan was to look at our service delivery and how we could refine our processes to make sure we delivered a better service than our direct competitors. We really want to position ourselves as the labour supplier of choice within our industry.

 

Skilled Labour Services (Southern) realise that our customers may often need more one-to-one support than is offered as standard by other construction labour service providers. This is why as part of our improvement plan we now help to support our customers by partnering with them every step of the way throughout the whole project.

 

This means that we attend on-site on day one of the construction project with our operatives (or before as necessary) and regularly monitor and review progress and performance levels, sorting out solutions for any issues as soon as they occur.

 

Ending the year on a high

With our ongoing attention to the finer details of our service delivery and improved customer support, I am delighted to say that we have surpassed our expectations for the year and that 2019 has been the busiest since Skilled Labour Services (Southern) was formed back in 2011. Our plan is working!

 

A typical day for SLS

During our day to day operations, we have around 75 operatives out on-site each working day fulfilling long term contracts, looked after by Chris Douglas and the operations team.

 

We have a team of four key staff members in our central office led by Liane and Jo looking after recruitment, payroll, marketing and all the other critical back-office functions that enable our service to run so smoothly and efficiently.

 

Our customer retention levels remain consistently high, and our skilled operatives tell us that they enjoy working with us. They understand how much they are valued by us and are appreciative that they are paid on time for their hard work, effort, loyalty and dedication to our company.

 

What’s been happening around the UK?

According to a report published a year ago by Constructionline outlining their predictions for the outlook for the construction industry during 2019, one of the areas predicted to be at risk was in infrastructure.

 

In the article they quoted that the forecast was heavily dependent on the progress of projects such as HS2 and Hinkley Point C. With both projects already experiencing delays and increasing costs, there was uncertainty about how accurate their predictions would be.

 

At the time of the article release, the CPA has already reduced its short-term forecasts for the growth of the infrastructure sector down from 13% to 8.8% in 2019.

 

However, despite these predictions, during 2019 Skilled Labour Services (Southern) has worked on some great projects, including the M27 smart motorway scheme, the Tipner Sea Wall project and the Arborfield relief roads to name but three.

 

In summary…

All in all 2019 turned out to be a great year for Skilled Labour Services (Southern), and one which we will look back on as being transformational in the history of our business.

 

We will be working exceptionally hard to ensure that 2020 becomes an even better year for our company.”

 

Richard Allen, Managing Director of Skilled Labour Services (Southern) Ltd

About Author : voxit
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Leave A Comment