Mandating a minimum profit margin could solve construction’s profitability woes

By Caroline Compton-James 2024-11-07T07:00:00

ISG’s collapse was the latest in a long line of contractor failures. The industry’s low margins expose it to greater risk of corporate failure, and suck time and energy away from the push towards greater sustainability, higher standards and the delivery of much-needed built assets. It is time for change, ...

Life as a contractor is precarious. Scraping a profit is hard, and low margins can undermine the industry’s potential to survive – let alone thrive – and to contribute value locally and nationally. ISG’s collapse last month was just the latest reminder of this.

This is a deep and complex issue that it won’t be solved overnight. But improving profit margins would be a good place to start.

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