Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

The UK construction industry experienced the biggest contractor collapse since Carillion, when ISG Ltd entered administration in September (LINK). ISG, the UKs 6th biggest building firm, were the Principal Contractor on Yondr’s data centre campus, working on 9-figure design-and-build contracts on 2 of the 3 buildings. ISG bosses blamed loss-making contracts adopted prior to COVID-19. Overnight, 2200 jobs were lost and a multitude of military, prison, school and more government projects were thrown into chaos. As well as the brutal impact to ISG staff, there is of course the crippling knock-on effect to the supply chain, in which their sub-contractors across the portfolio may be forced to foot the bill for as-yet unpaid works.

In the immediate aftermath on our site, all works ceased and site was closed. Any access to the site office was on strict permit, and access to the dormant construction area required a specific RAMS. Yondr, a data centre developer acting as the CDM client, decided to self-deliver the remainder of the project. Administrators had begun taking control of ISG’s sites and so Yondr had to act rapidly, establishing a separate legal entity to act as the principal contractor – enter Yondr PC.

Back to square one

The following actions were then taken to begin re-mobilisation.

F10: A new F10 had to be opened with HSE and the site ownership formally changed to Yondr PC.

Novation: The now-defunct D&B contract meant the sub-contractors could essentially be novated, in their current structure, across to Yondr PC. This was of course far more complex than it sounds, with different works packages at different levels of completion, therefore different appetites for which (and how much) of ISG’s bills should be picked up. Also key to this – instilling confidence in the supply chain to continue procurement/production so that delays aren’t compounded.

Retention: There was a lot of experience, knowledge and talent in the ISG project management team. Yondr moved quickly to hire critical staff (under Yondr PC) previously involved with the project to keep the ball rolling, rather than a lengthy recruitment and project-familiarisation process.

Inductions: Safe systems of work, H&S and all manner of Principal Contractor responsibilities became Yondr PCs remit. A lot of paperwork behind the scenes and notably, re-inducting every one of the 100’s of employees on site.

Licenses: Re-establishing software licenses may seem a minor point, though it was extremely impactful. Data exchange platforms (e.g. for drawing submittals), site access scanners, project tracking software and much more were all managed under an ISG license and could not be ‘novated’. Salvaging documents and details with mass-downloads ensued prior to the old licenses being revoked, though this is likely to cause version control issues down the line.

Managerial processes: Establishing managerial processes with the novated sub-contractors was important – this essentially provided a clean slate for how business is to be conducted. This included meeting beat-rates, submission procedures, RFI process flows and many more.

Re-baselining: The stand-down period caused a significant delay, and post-re-mobilisation required some getting back up to speed, such as re-assembling workforces that had been sent home and maintaining/re-calibrating kit that had been left dormant on site for weeks. Once site was back up and running, an all-hands workshop was held to re-baseline the programme and confirm a new timeline.

2 months later

There may well be unforeseen issues that arise, with site not long re-opened. However, the early mood music is positive. Re-mobilising had the potential to be complete chaos; Yondr acted decisively and with a clear plan to control that chaos. The project moves forward and any delays have been well-absorbed within individual packages. The key lesson from this experience: ‘war-gaming’ in construction is a necessity. The company had an idea of what could go wrong and ideas to mitigate ahead of time, despite no forewarning of the collapse. That ensured this project was pulled back from the brink of disaster.