Local Business Week spoke to Rachel Baron-Kordecki, the procurement manager for Wates Construction in the North East and Yorkshire, to find out just how buying locally can help businesses, and build connections between people.

According to the national enterprise campaign StartUp Britain, there have been 224,552 new business startups registered in the UK so far this year, keeping pace with 2016’s record of 657,790. Though this is extremely positive news, during Local Business Week, Wates Construction’s Rachel Baron-Kordecki argues that only by forging long-term relationships with local businesses will their sustainability be truly achieved.

Whether we talk about businesses starting or growing, we are ultimately talking about one thing - people. People are at the heart of every business, be it small or large, and they are also the ones affected by a business’ successes, or indeed its failures. This is what makes my job as Procurement Manager so rewarding; I have the job of making sure Wates’ work supports local businesses, and ultimately local people, in the right way.

I am responsible for implementing Wates Construction’s supply chain strategy in the North East and Yorkshire, engaging with local subcontractors and suppliers, and working with our estimating and commercial teams to match local businesses to our projects. In many ways, my job is like solving a jigsaw puzzle. I ensure we have the right fit for our projects, taking into account any specialist skills, services or materials needed, and do so while appointing contracts as locally as possible.​

If you had asked me when I was at school what I wanted to do as a career, I’m not sure I would have even known what a Procurement Manager was, let alone known that I wanted to be one! I happened upon a career in construction when my high school was being rebuilt and the company responsible was offering paid quantity surveying placements. That was the start for me and after completing a Higher National Diploma in quantity surveying and a degree in construction commercial management, I have spent 16 proud years part of the construction industry, eight of which have been with Wates.
 
Being a Procurement Manager gives me the chance to engage with and make a positive difference to a vast variety of businesses. For me a big part of this business engagement is sustainability. It wouldn’t be right to award a huge contract to a small and potentially under-resourced business and then never work with them again. We have to treat businesses fairly and ensure we support their forecasting and growth in a manageable way, not least because this has a direct impact on employment.
 
What’s more, our work with local businesses isn’t limited to our on-the-ground projects. Wates is very ingrained in the campaign to support the supply chain and we actively encourage our industry peers to do the same. We work very closely with the Supply Chain Sustainability School to host seminars on how best to engage with local businesses and hold regular Meet the Buyer events to connect to new businesses.
​We also host Supply Chain Surgeries to give our partners the tools and knowledge to forge new relationships and create new business opportunities outside of their work with Wates. So appointing contracts is only a very small part of our commitment to buying local; the real work is in contributing to the long-term sustainability of local businesses.
 
We’ve spent years building strong relationships with suppliers in the North East and Yorkshire. It is called a chain for a reason; the links need to be strong but the chain runs both ways. These are mutual relationships where our supply chain partners work with us, not for us. One of Wates’ strengths is its local market knowledge. We are a national contractor but we have a very local approach and this is enhanced considerably by the local businesses with which we work.

Employees often do not understand their rights when it comes to driving to work, and the obligations of staff can vary wildly depending on individual circumstances.
Typically, working hours begin once people enter their place of work and end when they leave, but the laws around this are not the same for everyone. For employees in a fixed office, their commuting time is typically made up of two journeys, but professionals such as tradesmen and healthcare workers often make several trips a day to reach multiple places of work.

The topic was put under the spotlight after a ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in 2015. The ruling determined that any time spent travelling to and from the first and last appointments by employees without a fixed office should be categorised as working time. 

The court case was focused on Tyco Security SL, a Spanish company that closed its regional offices and asked employees to work from home. Workers at the company received daily schedules that could send them on several sales trips a day, but the travel time reaching their first and last clients was not perceived to be working time.

The final decision was focused on protecting the health and safety of employees in the European Union’s Working Time Directive, which is designed to protect staff from exploitation and cover areas such as length of time in work and holiday time. The rule is implemented in the UK through the Working Time Regulations and it makes sure that no employee works more than 48 hours a week on average.
The court ruling explained: “The fact that the workers begin and finish the journeys at their homes stems directly from the decision of their employer to abolish the regional offices and not from the desire of the workers themselves.”
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Even though the ruling happened two years ago, there is still some confusion regarding who is impacted by it and the wider ramifications it may have for employees and business owners. 

It is important to realise that the ruling is focused on health and safety and is designed to stop exploitation. It is not designed to address pay and instead aims to guarantee no EU workers are forced to work more than 48 hours a week.
The ruling will only be relevant for some workers, so here is a guide looking at who is likely to be affected:

Staff without a fixed office
These are the individuals who are most likely to be affected by the law change, as the ECJ ruling means the length of time it takes them to complete journeys may be considered as working time.

Therefore, companies that employ professionals such as healthcare workers, gas fitters and other specialists that carry out their work in other people’s homes and different business properties now may be entitled to pay for the time spent travelling between their first and last appointments.

Staff with a fixed office
For staff with a fixed office, the ruling will make no difference to their pay. The court case was focused only on staff who did not have a fixed office so managers and staff unfortunately won’t be able to earn money during their office commute.

Although the ruling means that companies will need to address the working hours of mobile workers, it does not necessarily mean such employees will be automatically entitled to more money.

Instead, staff without a fixed office may need to look at their contracts and potentially consult an employment law expert for advice on how to tackle the situation. It is possible that claims could be made for a breach of contract, though this will depend entirely on the terms of a worker’s employment agreement.

As the ruling was focused on health and safety rather than pay, it has no effect on the National Minimum Wage. This is a completely separate law and determines that travel time is currently not included in people’s pay.

If you feel your business may need to change employment contracts to include travel time as working hours, consider consulting an employment law specialist, who will be able to help you understand the rules and guide you through any necessary processes.

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