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Vinci Construction UK has succeeded in unifying benefits for its stable of companies while battling the effects of recession, says Jennifer Paterson
When the recession touched down and speedily escalated in the latter months of 2008, headlines across the UK proclaimed that the construction industry was one of the worst hit. Declines in commercial construction and civil engineering contracts created many challenges for retaining and rewarding staff in the sector, not to mention keeping a cap on rising redundancies, pay freezes and halted contracts.
The entire construction sector was faced with limitations imposed on public sector funding, which resulted in reduced confidence in the market.
As if these challenges were not enough, during 2008, Vinci Construction UK was in the process of unifying a variety of businesses, integrating 4,000 UK employees and then harmonising and streamlining their respective benefits.
Cost-effective
Despite, or perhaps because of, the economic climate, the company has had to be innovative in its actions over the past 18 months. Colin Jellicoe, Vinci's human resources director, says: "We have had demands placed on us to be more cost-effective, so we have gone through a complete cycle of assessing our benefits providers and the costs, to determine whether we are getting value for money and providing the right sorts of benefit for our employees."
Now, 18 months on, with the construction sector still keeping an eye on the rearview mirror, aware that it is not completely out of the tunnel, Vinci Construction UK is forging ahead with new offerings for its staff.
"What we had when we looked at the three parts of the business - Taylor Woodrow, Vinci and Haymills - was three very different sets of terms and conditions, benefits and providers," says Jellicoe.
"We needed to look at whether we wanted...