BR Network says that during the first five months of 2015 its Resource Centre has delivered projects with a combined value of more than £1 billion to specialist sub-contractors in the construction industry.

The Resource Request service links estimators in construction contracting companies with sub-contractors, enabling estimators to build relationships with, and request quotations from, the specialist trades they require for their secured and unsecured projects.

Since January 2015, this skill locator service has been considerably enhanced through the pro-active involvement of BR Network’s resource specialists to facilitate the process. The company has also launched a mobile app for the instant communication and acceptance of new tenders to price.

BR Network’s managing director Dave Gilchrist said: “During the bid process, estimators are increasingly struggling to find sub-contractors from their own supply chain who have the capacity to price their work. Using the Network they can search for additional sub-contractors and view the information which is essential for their selection. However, it takes considerable time on the ‘phone to establish whether each individual has the capacity to take on their work; that’s where we and the mobile app come in.”

He continued: “Estimators tell us which trades they need and how many sub-contractors they need within each. The Network membership is then searched for appropriate pre-qualified companies and the Network immediately sends a notification through to the member’s app and asks if they have the capacity to price the work.

“The Resource Centre then speaks to those members who respond positively to explain the tender details before putting them into direct contact with the estimators.

A key benefit is that our members get the opportunity to receive, review and tender for more relevant projects than would otherwise be the case – with a proven increase in win rates,” Mr Gilchrist said.

“In parallel, the pre-qualification process ensures that the estimators only engage with companies that have the capacity to provide the required services.”

Visit www.brnetwork.com for more information.