From Joel B

Friday, 6 January 2012

I agree this should be happening for sure. If plans are passed for any construction work in Hebden/ Mytholmroyd there should be a clause that materials such as sand/cement etc are sourced from local businesses. Sandbeds and Mytholmroyd Builders Merchants are great examples, I use the Mytholmroyd yard for all my tools and materials for work. I've found the prices very competitive, nothing is too much trouble for the staff, and its on my doorstep !!

These companies building in Hebden probably use so much that they get the materials they need at next to nothing from suppliers like Marshalls.

Be nice if it was put forward at a council meeting, even if nothing was to come of it, at least folk would be aware. Local business's like this should be supported as much as possible.

From Andrew Bibby

Friday, 6 January 2012

I can't speak for other projects, but the HB Town Hall trustees are trying wherever possible to source locally for the building work. The contractors are a W Yorks firm and the site manager lives locally. The lift is coming from a Keighley company (and apparently the fitter will be from Tod), the steel work ditto, the stone from a Huddersfield quarry, and the main sub-contractors are businesses based within 15 miles of Hebden. Ultimately, tenders are awarded on quality and price, but we positively welcome approaches from HB businesses interested in tendering for the fitting out phase (some have already been in touch; anyone else should email us at the main Town Hall email address).

Incidentally, you may be interested to know that the contractors keep a daily record sheet on which are recorded the postcodes of all subcontractors and visitors coming to the site, so that we can monitor whatever the correct equivalent term to 'food miles' is ('construction miles'??)

From Charlotte L

Saturday, 7 January 2012

I have no doubt that most local and smaller businesses could not meet the criteria of cost and value when tendering for local projects. The big companies can pitch a bid that undercuts any smaller ones and many do this by employing lower paid migrant workers so that they can keep their costs low. Any tender gained by a local business (how local is local, Huddersfield??) is likely to be too small a job for the big boys to bother costing out. My partner is a builder and has to travel to Sheffield and Manchester for work because of this.

So whilst intentions may be good at local level its not happening for local companies.

From Ian M

Sunday, 8 January 2012

Joel, the day a clause like the one you suggest is put into place is the day I open a builders' merchant in Hebden. The minute a rule like that came into play, every merchant would raise their prices by whatever number they liked and retire to counting their profits on their Carribean island.

From Graham Barker

Monday, 9 January 2012

I wouldn't hold your breath for that Caribbean island, Ian. The day you launch your builders' merchant is the day I launch mine too, with the same ambition. We'd have to compete with each other so prices couldn't rise much; and to survive we might have to look for orders as far away as Halifax and Burnley. Merchants in Halifax and Burnley would then get their own protectionist clauses and it would be all over for us.

Joel has a point though to the extent that when sourcing building supplies, local(ish) is best as it doesn't make sense to transport heavy, relatively low value materials too far.

Otherwise, the only enterprises I can think of that operate successful monopolies in the construction industry are Mafia families.