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HomeThought LeadershipJohn Brown: ‘Price volatility needs to settle down – and quickly’

John Brown: ‘Price volatility needs to settle down – and quickly’

The managing director of Glasgow-based Veitchi Flooring has something to say about supply issues hitting the construction sector, the possibility of an economic firestorm – and what he thinks of Scotland’s place in the Union.

‘Do you want me to pause it?’ I ask.
John shakes his head. ‘No, that’s absolutely fine.’

So what was he talking about? Covid-19, naturally. Or rather, the pandemic’s lingering aftermath, such as its effect on apprenticeships.

‘Construction is an underestimated element of industry,’ he says. ‘Just think about it: we have to compete with the IT guys of the world, the banking fraternity, finance, and hospitality. If Covid-19 has taught us anything over the past 18 months it’s that construction’s resilience and ability to change quickly means we can survive the worst storms.

‘Back in March last year, everybody was sitting at home, unable to make the changes required to allow the continuation of operation. We shut sites on Tuesday, but then within two weeks method statements were changed, training was brought in, procedures were changed, personal protection equipment (PPE) was bought, and swift communication kept construction moving. More than half our sites had made the changes and construction was back operating in at least some capacity.’

In fact, construction’s speed – whether main contractor or specialist subcontractor – at getting workable procedures in place to protect operatives’ health and safety was ‘fantastic, phenomenal. Covid-19 prevention measures onsite today are of a high standard. There’s a good level of understanding, education, and prevention on any Covid-19 issue on 99.9% of sites in Scotland.’

But the wider world isn’t much interested in how construction fared, John says. ‘And that’s why nobody applies for jobs in construction – apprenticeships in the industry are frowned upon as if it’s a lower-end occupation, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.’

We’re sitting opposite each other in a small meeting room in Veitchi HQ in Cambuslang near Glasgow. A few minutes earlier, as we walked through the corridors linking Veitchi’s offices, John had motioned at me to put on my mask – a reminder that when it came to Covid-19 regulations, Scotland applied itself slightly more stringently than its southern neighbour.

I ask why apprenticeships are getting more difficult to come by. John leans forward in his seat. He cuts an imposing figure, and not just because of his height. His head is mostly hairless, closely cropped at the back, and his impressive beard defies conventional categorisation. When he answers my questions, he does so softly but with flinty self-belief, and to help my untrained ear with the Glaswegian accent, he enunciates his words clearly and deliberately. He’s not overly serious, though. Behind the gruff exterior lurks a sense of humour characterised by a deadpan delivery; a few times during the interview he laughs heartily when I’m caught unawares.

‘Every day we compete for apprenticeships with every other industry and it’s difficult. Construction is hard on your body. Over the course of the past 10-20 years we’ve made tremendous advances in relation to PPE and health and safety. But – make no bones about it – if you’re on your knees eight hours a day, after 40 years, if you’re not protecting them, you’re in trouble. For us it’s about protecting our people, showing them how it can be done.’
Clearly, the issue of knee protection is important to John. So much so, in fact, that one of the first things he did when he became managing director five years ago was to look into the best form of protection available. There was ‘loads of fluff out there such as talks on asbestos which doesn’t have much bearing on floorlayers. What I was looking for was something that would help my employees’ backs and knees. Never mind sun-cream and urine colour charts – I’m not saying those aren’t important but in the scheme of things, in flooring, it’s about backs and knees. Sort that first!’

Most floorlayers will – or should – know that. As Paul Rafferty of Recoil Kneepads memorably wrote in CFJ two years ago: ‘For floorlayers, protecting your joints is critically important if you want to ensure you aren’t forced into an early retirement and a world of pain much earlier than your average Joe. Your knees, hips and back are going to be put under a lot of pressure. When you’re kneeling on the floor, you put a lot of pressure on the knee. This can damage the cartilage, ligaments, and bones of the knees. If you’re a veteran floorlayer, you’ll have had your fair share of horrible shifts that have left your knees in bits. You’ve also probably had the fluid removed, some form of reconstructive surgery or (worst case) have had a full knee replacement or been forced off the job. Very few in the industry will escape it.’

So, John ordered a few pairs of the ‘Rolls-Royce of kneepads’ for his staff. If they worked, he planned to invest in them, but first he wanted to hear what his floorlayers thought. The feedback wasn’t encouraging. ‘They bombed, my guys hated them, and what I realised was that everybody has individual tastes. Trying to get a one-fits-all solution wasn’t going to work.’

A year later, working with Steven McKenna, Veitchi Group’s health & safety manager, they sourced a London-based company, Pristine Condition, whose founder and chief executive, Davy Snowdon MBE, was a conditioning expert for the Olympics Federation covering all sports for two Olympic Games, a former Weightlifting Guinness Book World Record holder, a national and staff coach for the British weightlifting team and lecturer for many governing bodies.

But what could such a person offer a floorlayer? Pristine Condition’s website explains: ‘Davy has spent most of his life training and studying the human body and the art of weightlifting. After returning from the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 he set up Pristine Condition. In 2014, Davy was awarded an MBE by the Queen for the significant reduction in accidents throughout industry and improving the health and wellbeing of our nation.’

John got in touch. ‘We had a chat – listen, the guy’s a tank – and invited them to our warehouse to get an idea of what we do and what we needed. They said: ‘Give us two weeks’, then went away and created a bespoke training course. It involved situations relevant to the flooring industry such as carrying rolls of vinyl and bags of this-and-that. The guys did the course and now when I visit them onsite they always say the changes Pristine Condition inspired were very simple yet very necessary. They were needed. And as long as we continue to do that, boys like Jack will continue to be protected, giving them longevity in the industry.’

II. JACK THE LAD
OYS like Jack? Let’s rewind to before my Dictaphone started running. The reason I’m in Scotland in the first place on 10 June 2021 is because Jack Gray (who John tells me is ‘an ambassador for the industry’), a likeable, quiet-spoken 24-year-old lad has won the Apprentice of the Year (AOTY) competition. A day-long train journey has brought me from southeast England to the outskirts of Glasgow to understand why one of Veitchi Flooring’s apprentices had what it takes to beat out stiff competition.

‘This year’s AOTY produced several high-quality entries from apprentices all over the UK, but it was Jack’s excellent application along with superb recommendations from his employer and his tutor that led the judges to their decision,’ said Shaun Wadsworth, CFA training manager. ‘Jack was able to provide a wealth of photos and experiences in the form of a case study which the judges were extremely impressed with and came to a unanimous decision that Jack was the worthy winner.’

John was equally proud of Jack’s victory, saying he was ‘a credit to Veitchi Flooring and the wider Veitchi Group. In 2017 we identified the requirement to increase our investment in apprentices including the construction of our in-house trade school, giving apprentices a physical space to practice and hone their skills. We know the level of competition this year was fierce. Our industry relies 100% on the effort we place in training the next generation, Jack is a shining example of this. Well done Jack!’

Veitchi is going great guns in its drive for apprentices, says John. ‘Within flooring we have seven different apprentices at varying degrees as they go through their education. This year we’ll see a further five join the group, specifically in flooring. If you look at Veitchi as a larger group we have 28 apprentices and there’s a further 18 coming in this year, a huge investment over the next five years.’

This is a reaction, John says, to the fact that the current workforce is maturing and that what’s required is a constant exercise in replenishing and getting apprentices through the system. But it’s not always as straightforward as it sounds. ‘One of the biggest risks the industry has with respect to apprenticeships is abuse of the grant scheme.’

In 2020 government launched a scheme which entitled employers to a £5,000 grant per head for apprentices that were taken on. The condition was that they must hold the apprenticeship for a year. But it’s clear, says John, that the system is being abused.

‘Unscrupulous employers take on apprentices to gain the grant, then a year later get rid of them. That will create the industry’s next problem unless we can tackle it.’
Do you know that’s happening? I ask John.
‘It’s happening.’

So what’s Veitchi Flooring’s stance on the issue?
‘We didn’t apply for a grant for our apprentices when we took them on. The reason for that is we didn’t associate apprentices with monetary value. Instead, we see them as the next generation of Veitchi floorlayers. There are many companies which require grant assistance to help them with apprenticeships, but there are also unscrupulous ones which don’t operate so nobly.’

That, John points out, is the weak link with respect to apprenticeships in the flooring industry, and it can, in his opinion, only be corrected by improving the connection between grant release and training approval. In other words, funds should only be given to companies once their apprentices have achieved the desired training levels.

‘If we do that, and it’s imperative that we do, then we guarantee that the next generation of floorlayers, joiners, brickies etc are qualified, competent guys.’

Has there been much progress?
‘We’re at the start of that journey. We work proactively through the CFA as well as independently to say ‘Look, this is what we’re doing’. We benefit from being the biggest flooring company in Scotland because it means we have larger-than-normal facilities and it also allows us to have a safe space with a trade school where apprentices can leave all the pressures of the site, such as the requirement to be absolutely correct, behind them. It allows them somewhere to hone their skills and make mistakes. Mistakes aren’t a problem when you’re in a trade school – in fact, that’s the place to do it. The difference is our trade school isn’t just for Veitchi, it’s for anyone who wants to use it, including our competitors or the CFA.’

Veitchi runs three different support mechanisms for apprentices, John explains. First, there’s a mentor for each apprentice. This skilled tradesperson, despite not necessarily being someone the apprentice works with, is on-hand to frequently check in on them and ensure they’re happy with the speed and level of training as well as the way it’s being conducted.

Second, there are quarterly reviews with the apprentices to ensure that when their college report comes out ‘we stop, we acknowledge it, drill into it, and tie it back to their education’.

Third, there’s a plan underway this year for fourth-year apprentices to ‘buddy up’ with first-year apprentices. ‘All these things will allow better communication and interaction and – more importantly – the ability to shape the nature of the guys coming through the system,’ says John. ‘This is our investment, and we want to see a return, so in four years we expect to see a competent, capable, confident guy.’

III. RAPID RISE
T wasn’t that long ago that John himself was a lad going into the marketplace. Born 42 years ago in Irvine in north Ayrshire, he was only 15 when he started his apprenticeship with a small local builder.

He moved to BAM Construction, which has been building in the UK since 1874, with a network of offices covering England, Scotland, and Wales.

This was a fitting place for the young John to cut his teeth, which he did by obtaining a construction management degree. This was followed by ‘a short stint’ at BAM’s facilities management arm, before he worked for a couple of specialist contractors, and ended up at Veitchi at the end of 2016 as operations manager. He was soon operations director, then managing director.

‘This is my first role in flooring but that’s not what’s important – it’s ultimately about the people and the process so it really doesn’t matter what part of construction you end up in, whether it’s joining or flooring. If you can figure out people and process, then you’ll know where it’s at.’

Veichi Group’s board of directors is made up of three people: Jim Preston, group managing director; Jim Stewart, financial director; and Raymond Tedeschi who is group operations director.

Veitchi Flooring operates with 70-80 direct employees plus 10-30 subcontractors and operatives across three different branches of flooring, covering decorative and raised access flooring, as well as a secondary company called Veitchi Industrial Flooring.

‘We run the main office in Glasgow, a secondary office in Aberdeen and satellite offices in Inverness, Dundee, and Edinburgh,’ says John.

As for its position in Scotland, John says Veitchi is the largest contractor because it operates in the central belt as well as in Aberdeen in the north. ‘When you add up my locations and components on a financial scale, we’re between three-to-four times the size of anybody else; nobody has the levels of direct labour we do.’

To be fair, Veitchi Flooring has had time to build its network. More than a century old (it is, in fact, one of Scotland’s oldest registered companies), it actually completed a section of the non-wood flooring in the third-class corridors on the Titanic before it hit an iceberg on the night of 12 December 1912. But John is quick to point out that the company has also completed installations in the Tower of London. ‘That’s the better story,’ he says.

In 1956, when Jimmy Lawrie joined as managing director, Veitchi went from focusing on shipping to contract flooring, and 11 years later a license was granted for Veitchiflor, Veitchi’s own resin-based flooring system.

In 1983, the company was the subject of a landmark court ruling which it cites as a milestone in its history: Veitchi laid the flooring in a factory to be used by Junior Books, but the latter successfully claimed Veitch’s negligence had led to a faulty installation and that the contractor was liable for the damage caused by cracking in the floor.

John tells me many people don’t realise Veitchi isn’t just a contractor; it also manufactures product. Specifically, it makes a kind of antistatic cementitious floor called VeitchiGuard Conductive Flooring. This jointless composition which is designed for use in buildings where explosives are processed or stored has been approved by the Ministry of Defence and is suitable for use in cartridging units, detonator units, magazines, and powder stores. Owing to its chemical resistance, it’s even suitable for production areas.

‘Ours is the best in the world,’ says John, proudly. ‘The idea is that you measure the conductivity post-installation and under 50 k/ohms is a pass. Our flooring is under 1k/ohm! If you walk into any military defence place in the UK you’ll come across VeitchiGuard and that’s been the case for between 40-50 years.’

But while continuity is clearly an important part of Veitchi’s tradition, not everything in the future can be predicted. During John’s short tenure he’s had to negotiate the storms unleashed by the EU referendum of June 2016, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic which has fundamentally changed the world, on both a macro- as well as a micro-level.

He’s bullish about the future, but he’s not naïve. We may be emerging from the pandemic with an astonishingly healthy GDP bounce but there are clouds on the horizon. To believe otherwise would be to ignore the evidence right in front of us.

I ask John for his evaluation on the aftermath of Covid-19. He ponders the question for a moment.

‘What we’re currently experiencing is a boom in the construction industry. That’s to be expected. We’ve all had pent-up spend for 2020 as well as for early 2021 and we’ve had government assistance which has ensured there’s continuity in the construction industry. All these things are fantastic – long may they last. But we mustn’t be blind to the true shape of how Covid-19 has affected construction. As it stands, we’re starting to see more raw materials issues and the physical impact they’re having on the flooring industry as well as the preceding trades.’

What, specifically, does he mean when he refers to ‘raw materials issues’, at least as it pertains to Veitchi? ‘The prices of metals, chemicals, and timber are going through the roof. We can see volatility in adhesives’ prices, and all this is causing market uncertainty.’

The result for contractors is that clients are trying to get ‘lockdown prices’ to give their projects security. ‘That situation needs to settle down – and quickly. If we continue to see this level of fluctuation in the markets, it’ll start to affect building projects.’

That, in turn, would lead to the ‘physical impact’ John referred to earlier, and ultimately to disruption at the very heart of a floorlaying installation.

IV. PAYING THE PRICE
OHN sits back in his seat and asks me to consider this scenario: floorlayers are onsite working on an installation and word comes through that a lack of concrete is going to delay the preceding trades as they can’t complete their work. Now, as a floorlayer, you’ve immediately got the biggest problem of any of the trades onsite.

‘If one of the non-flooring contractors during the construction process experiences a delay they still have the full duration from the point of the delay to the end of the project to resolve it. But as a flooring contractor, if we experience delay, it directly affects the handover because there’s no time left so we need to be cautious, careful, and communicate with the client to let them understand we need the correct environment with the correct amount of area and time to allow us to do the job.

‘If we don’t get that, our time period is compressed which drives down our quality and means we may end up with a less-than-perfect installation.’

The upshot, says John, is that despite the difficulties, Veitchi has been working proactively with its clients and preceding trades to avoid that situation and to ensure bumps caused by market fluctuations are smoothed out.

John is also cautious about the dizzying scale of the economic bounce-back from the pandemic. In fact, in the very month of our interview (June), it turned out the construction sector was expanding at its fastest pace in 24 years, driven by a demand for new homes and commercial property. The IHS Markit/CIPS construction PMI exceeded forecasts to jump from 64.2 to 66.3, the highest reading since June 1997 and way above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

Yet, less than a week earlier, The Times ran an article entitled: ‘Price explosion has building contractors staring into abyss’.

‘Prices are rising at the drop of a hat, where’s it going to end?’ Clive May, owner of Briar-Grove Developments, a small bricklaying business in Mold, north Wales, told The Times . He said contractors are being quoted prices for timber and steel that are ‘good for only 24 hours’ before they rise again. ‘Usually you’re pricing stuff that’s two or three months out. We’re quoting for a job for a Premier League football club that starts a year in August — how on Earth are we going to price that?’

Fears of construction company failures are growing as the sector is hit by a shortage of key materials and sharp price rises for material and labour costs, the paper said. It quoted John Newcomb, chief executive of the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), saying there were issues with specific materials last year but they were nothing like the shortages builders face now because of the surge in global demand.

‘What’s unprecedented in this particular situation is we’ve got availability issues across all the core materials,’ he said. ‘Timber and cement have been the biggest concerns. When a builders’ merchant runs out of cement, it’s pretty much like Sainsbury’s running out of milk. We’ve never had issues in 30 years around cement availability.’

The sense that extremes at either end of the scale predict a coming storm sobers John. ‘The biggest issue facing Veitchi is continued uncertainty in the market, and our opinion is we’re experiencing the beginning of a boom, and we need to ensure the boom doesn’t go too high, because the higher it goes, the further it will fall. We need to understand the profile of the boom, so we can prepare for the drop when it comes, if it comes. The better we can tail off and keep everything going, the less we have to worry going down that way.’

Veitchi started to note material price increases pre-Christmas, says John. The first signs of the smoke that foretold a fire were container and shipping issues caused by Covid-19 and exacerbated by Brexit.

‘In the months since Christmas there have been concerns about unusually high material price increases happening with very little notice. That’s hurting construction and will continue to do so until we can resolve it. Within flooring we’re just starting to see the beginnings of this reaching all areas of the trade. Right now we don’t have much metal and timber is quite specialist so where we’ll see most impact is through disruption of the chemical supply which makes up the composition of the floors – adhesives and underlayments.’

Communication in the supply chain is key to resolving the issue, says John. What he fears most are surprises. ‘Imagine now that, during the tendering process, we bid and get through to the negotiation stage. Main contractors at this point want to lock prices so they’ll push us to a fixed lump-sum point, then they’ll lock down the prices, which could be for 12, 18 or even 24 months.’

As a company, Veitchi simply can’t sign up to those terms, but there are other companies in industry which will try to roll the dice, says John. ‘As long as there’s clear communication with our supply chain to ensure suppliers are advising us in advance to give us ample time to absorb the increases, then we’re protected. But where our pain and risk comes from is where there’s a surprise.’

As John explains, a 14- or even 30-day increase notice is difficult to manage because ‘we have very little visibility over it. We don’t have much time to advise our client so they can manage that cost’. Worst-case scenario is that, as the flooring contractor, Veitchi ends up as ‘piggy-in-the-middle’. In such a case, the contractor is squeezed on one side by the manufacturer forcing a price increase as well as on the other side by the client insisting on fixed prices as per the original contract.

‘We suffer off the back of that,’ says John. ‘That’s why it’s imperative we have clear communication from supply to subcontract to main contract to client to advise on how this is moving. All being well, we’ll navigate and deal with any change in the market because it’s communicated but if communication is shaky, there’s a real risk somebody somewhere in that chain is going to get a nasty financial surprise.’

V. FURLOUGH FOLLIES
Y this point I’m getting a fairly comprehensive view of the challenges faced by Veitchi, the flooring industry and by the construction sector. But there’s more… When I ask John what other potential issue concerns him for the not-too-distant future, he mentions the furlough scheme, government’s policy to provide financial support for every sector of business.

Since March last year, the state has paid 80% of staff salaries up to £2,500 a month under the job retention scheme, which has protected 11.5 million jobs and cost the taxpayer £64bn so far.

Twenty days after I returned from Cambuslang, employers started paying 10% of furloughed staff’s wages. This was increased to 20% in August and September, after which the scheme ends.

‘While it’s fantastic government is providing financial support for every sector of business, until the support stops, we don’t have a true representation of the effects of Covid-19 on industry,’ says John. ‘We need to understand the mechanism for exiting that period of support and how we’re going to navigate post-government support because at that point we’ll have a true and accurate picture of how industry is operating and that – for me – is the area on which we’ll need to concentrate.’

For John, the real danger is the end of furlough coinciding with an economic crash. If the two things happen at once, there could be serious repercussions for construction, which John describes as the backbone of the country.

As long as construction grinds along, so does manufacturing and every other breakaway industry so it’s vital government understands and communicates how it’s going to navigate through the final stages of the pandemic to ensure it doesn’t end up in a boom-and-bust situation. That, says John, would have implications, not just for construction, but far-and-wide.

He isn’t the only one who’s worried. Industry groups and thinktanks think certain workers will be affected disproportionately. The most vocal opponents to phasing out furloughing include nocturnal operations such as clubs where debt has piled up and many workers’ futures look bleak.

In addition, more than 600,000 workers between 45-64 have been unemployed or on full furlough for at least six months and are considered to be at high risk of unemployment once furlough finishes.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that for a furloughed employee previously earning £20,000 per year, the cost to an employer of keeping them will rise from £155 per month in June to £322 in July and £489 per month in August and September. For a business worried about clearing debt and making a profit, the increased cost of keeping an employee may be unappetising.

But whether the scheme is phased out quietly or with a bang, the flooring industry seems to have a problem of another kind: a skilled labour shortage. While John is concerned about what the end of September might bring, he acknowledges that there’s no such problem when it comes to skilled labour. The industry can do with as much of it as the country can provide – the problem is, there’s not enough to go around.

John becomes animated, almost agitated, when I ask why industry has this problem. ~}‘Between 15-20 years ago, some contractors didn’t bother about skilled labour, and the result is we created our own problem. The people who complain about it now are the same guys who created it when they subcontracted labour and said: ‘There’s something else I don’t have to worry about’. Now they’re in a position where most contract flooring companies are heavily reliant on subcontracted labour.’

John has strong words for those who decry the shortage of skilled labour. ‘First and foremost, stop moaning. If you want control of the quality of workpeople in the industry, make your own. We have the power, ability, and financial support, so make the investment and turn your employees into the guys you want them to be, because nobody else is going to supply you with quality labour.’

Veitchi puts its money where its mouth is in that regard, says John. ‘We’re direct employers; 80% of our operatives are direct employees. You need to invest in direct employment to improve your control, your connection, to secure your company and ultimately to provide a vehicle for the training you need.’

The contractors who say they can’t find skilled labour are well-intentioned, says John. ‘They want to invest and train, so they’re on the right track. But going through a subcontractor labour mechanism to train up an apprentice isn’t the correct way to do it. If your company is running with an emphasis on subcontract, you have the daily risk that the company ethos and training mechanisms you’re trying to ingrain to create a quality workforce will get disconnected before reaching the apprentice. If a subcontractor feels he’s not going to get a return on training up an apprentice, why should he do it? The apprentice will end up as a workhorse. Invest in direct employment if you want skilled labour – it gives you the control and the vehicle to make tomorrow’s floorlayer.’

He points out that when Jack Gray returns to site after his AOTY awards ceremony, it’s going to be with a team of floorlayers, each of which has worked for Veitchi for several years. ‘One employee is celebrating 35 years’ service next week.’

Is direct employment an easy or cheap route? No. And that means Veitchi can’t afford to be the cheapest service out there. That has drawbacks: when it goes up head-to-head with competitors, it sometimes struggles to get its prices down to their price point because of employee overheads.

‘I’ve got vans, national insurance and pension contributions, uniforms etc to pay for. When you’re using a subcontractor vehicle, it’s cheaper. You share the risk. But the bigger risk you inherit is lack of control. It’s simple: If you want control, go direct.’

It’s a catchy slogan; I can almost imagine it emblazoned across a giant marketing banner. But is John saying there’s no place for subbies in his vision of the perfect flooring company? He shakes his head vigorously. ‘There’s always place for them, but right now the balance should be 60-40 direct to subcontract.’

The problem was made by the flooring industry, and should thus be fixed by the industry, says John. ‘We’re far from resolving it but at least we know where we want to be and we’re trying our best to communicate that to our guys. Some get it, some don’t; some are cynical, others may be a bit long in the tooth. But the truth cannot be changed.’

VI. BROWN TALKS GREEN
NE thing that can change, however, is the pace at which the world is hurtling down the global warming path. Less than three weeks after I visited Veitchi, Canada suffered its worst heatwave on record – 49.6deg C

(121.3F) in Lytton, British Columbia, causing at least 500 deaths. Just over two weeks after that, parts of Western Europe were hit by their worst flooding in decades, with at least 180 dead at the time of writing.

A concerted effort by many countries, most notably in the form of COP26 (the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference is the 26th conference), shows there’s now a serious commitment to stalling manmade climate change before it’s too late. In fact, COP26 is due to take place in November in Glasgow.

At Veitchi, the issue is no less important. ‘Whether it’s a monthly meeting for shareholders or operatives, sustainability sits atop the agenda, and it doesn’t sit there so we can tick a box,’ says John. ‘It sits there because that’s where the risk is. Sustainability is a very tricky issue. In our industry, our wastage and commercial acumen dictate that we work in an economical way by nature.’

Despite the relentless push for all things green, John is realistic about the pace of change. For instance, he points out the difficulties of applying the circular economy model to the flooring industry. ‘The reason I have pause-for-thought is that the products are adhered,’ says John. ‘Because of the environmental impact during the main processes of flooring such as surface preparation, which can lead to harmful dust, we do all we can to ensure our equipment is up-to-scratch. It’s not uncommon in our industry for buffing machines not to have a dust skirt or hoover. From an environmental and health point-of-view we must protect our operatives, so at a minimum we need to have those things priced in.’

Veitchi gives its operatives FFP3 masks for oral nasal disposable mask respiratory protection. ‘We know, through common sense, and without having to conduct scientific studies that elements of latex dust can be harmful to health; so we’ll use those masks in order to protect our operatives for the next 20 years.’

Damp proof membranes (DPMs) and latexes which adhere to the floor are a further cause of concern onsite, and John says Veitchi tries to minimise this waste with software technology. But, in his view, recycled products are where the flooring industry can most benefit.

‘Recycled plastics can be used to make carpet tiles, moving away from adhered systems, and we can use looselay systems which will then have a recycle, resale, circular economy viewpoint – that’s the ideal of where we can get to. However we’re at the beginning of a very long journey and at this point sustainability isn’t equal with cost productivity and health and safety. Until such time as we can elevate sustainability to the same level, it will always lag behind.’

Incidentally, John thinks COP26 in November could see legislation aimed at raising the profile of sustainability and bringing it on a par with health and safety.

He also thinks there’s already been significant progress on sustainability, as proved by several innovative new products on the market. ‘There are still historical adhesive issues, but the market is moving forward on getting water-based components and environmentally sustainable components to replace older systems. But it’s imperative when manufacturers replace established products with environmentally friendly and sustainable ones that they have them tried-and- tested before being sold. If that’s not done, the implications will be biblical. End of the world!’

John gives the example of using a water-based adhesive in a hospital installation, which then experiences a post-handover failure. ‘There’s minimal scope for us as a contractor to move things forward; manufacturers have the biggest part to play via production and use of recycled products. Any step forward to get to a circular economy position is fantastic, but it’s a wee bit away.’

As for health and safety, it’s the biggest risk for a commercial contractor ‘by a mile’, even when Covid-19 is removed from the equation, says John.

‘What’s happened over the pandemic is we’ve seen an increase in backshift, nightshift and weekend shift working in order to stretch the working week and allow access, with Covid-19 adherence, to the same area for multiple tradespeople. It’s important that that remains the case for the duration of restrictions. I think the restriction period over the next six months and through the first six months of 2022 will very much return back to where it was pre-Covid. However I foresee facemasks remaining onsite; those will probably be with us when commuting through sites for a long time. I don’t foresee the removal of the sanitising stations.’

The pandemic has had some positive repercussions, John says. Indirect benefits from Covid-19 prevention methods include less absenteeism and flu and other illnesses because hygiene levels and airborne-spreading prevention is at a much higher level.

‘I think some Covid-19 prevention methods will now remain a constant in construction. But the bigger challenge is trying to persuade people that proactive safety measures are needed today in order to protect them in 10, 15, 20 years’ time after continued exposure. That requires a cultural change.’

Is Veitchi doing anything to facilitate that change? ‘As it happens, we’ve partnered with a couple of main contractors this year to focus on where we can improve the culture in our companies in relation to safety, and by excluding political noise. To bring about change, you need to make it as natural as possible, and you need it to come from within. You can’t force it or market it – that just makes it false.’

Such a ‘natural cultural change’ won’t happen overnight. John points out that it’s a difficult mission but certainly a worthy one. Veitchi benefits, he says, if its employees can be ‘tuned into’ safety.

VII. DIVIDED WE FALL
T’s nearly time to catch my train back to southeast England, but I have one more important question for John and although I want to ask it, I’m not sure if I should: Scottish independence from the Union is a fraught subject south of the border; one opinion I often hear in England is that most Scots would surely vote to leave the UK after Brexit, which was opposed by 63% of Scottish voters in the 2016 EU referendum.

But thorny questions are there to be grasped and I get the feeling after more than an hour interviewing John that he’d be up for discussing it, particularly given its relevance to commercial floorlayers: Scotland departing the Union would impact flooring businesses on both sides of the border.

‘The first impact of independence is that I’ll buy a house in England,’ John deadpans, then bursts out laughing and points at the Dictaphone. ‘I’m joking! Don’t include that.’

Then his expression gets serious. ‘Speaking as a Scottish company, I think an independence referendum would be a step backwards, not only for the Union but for Scotland as a Western power. The benefits that come from being in the Union are good. The sheer weight of legislation we’d need to implement to successfully navigate and execute a referendum vote that could ultimately lead to independence would weaken Scotland and England.’

If Brexit has taught us anything it’s that a traumatic political break-up can get messy, protracted, and painful – and nobody wins, he says. ‘The best thing Scotland can do is act as a proactive member of the Union, stand up for its people and products and promote itself
as the incredible country it is.’

He concedes that the case for independence has been improved by the business-like approach of Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, to the pandemic. By comparison, England’s regular U-turns and mixed messaging have made it seem haphazard.

John’s biggest fear is that in any future referendum campaign, a biased media approach would prevail. He has a point: my view, before speaking to him, was that Scots are now overwhelmingly in favour of independence and that the issue should be avoided at all costs during polite conversation in Scotland. My preconceptions were formed partly by soaking up mainstream media, which often alludes to independence being an inevitable outcome.
Clearly, though, Scots are as torn by the prospect of independence from the Union as the UK was by independence from the EU.

‘The media needs to take a balanced view – both positive and negative – on the implications of leaving the Union, and particularly about what that would mean for Scotland,’ says John.
Faced with so many business-related challenges – including any ‘unknown unknowns’ (to quote the recently deceased Donald Rumsfeld, former US secretary of defence) – John’s release valve is his family. ‘I’m a homebody and unwind best when I’m around my family. I’m married with an 18-year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son. The best point in any week is the time I get to spend with them.’

Quality time isn’t that easy to come by these days, though – and not just because of the pressurised nature of his job.

‘Family time was exacerbated by Covid-19 because holidays were stopped so even just sitting down to watch a movie together became a rare occurrence. Other than that I love cars, or anything that’s got wheels on it. I’ve a got a wee Escort Mark 5 that I bought for my son five or six years ago and over Covid-19 I’ve done loads of stuff to it. I get a buzz out of that.’

He scrolls through his phone, then leans across and shows me a photo from 2016 of the work his son has done on the Escort.

‘Family and cars,’ he says, beaming. ‘That’s where I’m happiest.’

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