Offsite 7

Start-up modular manufacturers are finding it easier to find opportunities abroad than in the UK due to the burden of paperwork and procurement, the founder of one start-up offsite company has said at our Offsite Manufacture Conference.

Joseph Daniels, Founder and Chief Executive of Project Etopia told our event that in his experience it was far easier to work in other countries than the UK and that success in Africa was the launchpad for more work in his home country.

He said: “The reason being is rigmarole and processes of UK contracts, it’s not the frameworks fault, is it the developers for the lock down. However, the global requirement on housing is in the billions. I am from the UK, I based in the UK, I built two schools in the UK and couldn’t get housing contracts. I build a house in Namibia, which has outperformed every single building in the UK with six people that couldn’t read and all of a sudden we got housing contracts, dropping left right and centre, my theory and philosophy is that the quality of building is a global thing.” [emaillocker id=”71749″]

Scalability of any new offsite or MMC business is also key to its success Mr Daniels said: “We’re looking at six factories producing 6,000 homes by the end of 2020. We already have the capacity to build 2,200 [in the UK].

“In the UK, we will be at 6,000 production by the end of next year. The order book at the moment is probably around about 20% of that capacity in the pipeline, however we will we will be distributing and shipping globally. So we expect that capacity to be filled by the end of this year.”

Mr Daniels also highlighted how construction needed to find a solution to its carbon footprint. He added: “We produce 36% of the CO2 globally? How do we as an industry, look at environmental process and reduce that?”

Andy Smith, Head of Business Development at Caledonian Modular, which worked with Laing O’Rourke to provide key worker accommodation for Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station in Somerset, says that the pre-manufactured value (PMV) of a home or other development is key to modular’s financial advantage over other forms of construction.

He said: “PMV was described very eloquently by Mark Farmer is about the premanufactured value doing this much in the factories we can and that’s down to optimise and what we do, how we do it. And the reasons for that are quite simple. If it costs £10 in the factory is typically £30 on site. So why wouldn’t use off site construction.”

Nick Griffin, General Manager at Portakabin agrees that manufacturers need volume. He said: “I think we’re all understanding of the fact that you’re going to get a better building in a controlled factory environment, and you are on a muddy, cold site. We know that it helps minimise risk disruption to clients and others. But it’s safer, but it can address this skills time bomb that were engaged with.

“As a manufacturer, what we need is volume. So we look to the to the government to provide that and we heard from the DFMA earlier about how those frameworks are going to deliver that volume. That brings us certainty, it means that we can invest, it means that the capital will go will go into the to the capacity that needs to be built, that’s going to translate into innovation, as well as capacity and more spending on R&D. And then the private sector will follow.”

Business Development Director at Premier Modular Nathalie Meunier said that there isn’t a capacity issue in offsite to deliver new homes, but better clarity of the future work pipeline could see work jump.

She said: “It isn’t really a capacity problem, There are a lot of established factories with large capacity through the UK, these also you know, people like us with a lot of experience and we could easily double our output if we have visibility of a pipeline, there is also a lot of new companies coming every day on the market and these large investment in that market.

“So my question is really why does it still feel like we are sitting on the fence if there is a lot of people talking about it?”

One modular company which has spearheaded growth is Ilke Homes, which was formed 18 months ago, is on track to be capable of constructing 2000 homes by 2021.

Paul Mason, Client Lead at Ilke said: “Last year we did about 350 homes as we started up, this year will be around the 800 mark. Next year [new homes] will be around about 1000 Mark, the target is to get 2000 homes in two years, as in an annual production 5000 homes in five.” [/emaillocker]