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CHAS is the UK’s leading health and safety assessment scheme and provider of risk mitigation, compliance and supply chain management services. In an attempt to understand how COVID-19 has affected the construction industry, CHAS sent a survey to nearly 900 construction business owners. Here, the experts at CHAS unpack the findings of the survey to get an insight into the extent of the effects and what can be learnt from them moving forward.What Does the Survey Explore?
- How COVID-19 has affected businesses’ turnover.
- How many businesses had to cease operations.
- Whether or not businesses diversified suppliers during this time.
- If COVID-19 changed businesses’ approaches to procurement.
- Effects on accessing goods and services.
- The number of businesses affected by trade and travel restrictions.
- Confidence in new COVID-19 secure operating practices.
“This survey was important to highlight in what areas construction businesses have been most affected and, more importantly, how we can help the industry move forwards and come out of this stronger on the other side. We’ve created several COVID-19 resources to support construction businesses during these difficult times — including guides on creating a COVID-secure workplace and returning to work safely.”
— Ian McKinnon, Managing Director, CHAS
The Effects on Construction Business Turnover
The effects on turnover are a clear indication of the damage COVID-19 has done to businesses, although the survey did reveal some surprising insights. More than 70% of business owners responded that they had seen a decrease in turnover. But, while a majority of respondents answered that their businesses had been affected by COVID-19, over 25% weren’t negatively affected by it. 21.12% of respondents said that the pandemic hadn’t affected their turnover at all, and 6.42% said they’d actually experienced an increase in turnover.
Ceasing Trading during the Pandemic
68.84% of the respondents had to cease trading during the pandemic, but the good news is that almost all of these businesses have now resumed trading (41.42%). Remarkably only 3.97% of respondents are still out of action after having to pause operations. Around one-third of the business owners surveyed didn’t have to cease operations at all during the pandemic.
Implications on the Industry Moving Forward
CHAS asked the survey pool if it felt that COVID-19 had threatened the success of its businesses, and 55.31% said no. There’s a long way to go to recover the industry, but the data pulled from this survey will help CHAS to focus on the areas that need addressing for businesses to remain resilient. Over 99% of the business owners surveyed said they were at least “somewhat confident” that their businesses and staff have successfully complied with COVID-19 government guidelines. 46.47% were “very confident”, and 43.29% were “extremely confident”.
For further reading on the results, CHAS has published The Impact of COVID-19 on the Construction Industry — a full breakdown of the findings from the survey, which can be found on their website.
Find out more about CHAS and their COVID-19 support services at https://www.chas.co.uk/. For press enquiries, please contact Megan Price: call 0115 896 2348, email megan.price@exposureninja.com, or write to Landmark Business Centre, Tudor Square, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 6BT.
Contact Info:
Name: Megan Price
Email: Send Email
Organization: CHAS
Address: Landmark Business Centre, Tudor Square, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 6BT
Phone: 0115 896 2348
Website: https://www.chas.co.uk/
Release ID: 88979144