A few months ago, the concrete industry faced a stark reality: in August it was revealed that demand for ready-mix concrete had fallen to levels not seen since 1963 across the UK. The Mineral Products Association (MPA) announced that quarterly sales had plummeted by 11.5%, to just 2.7 million cubic metres during the second quarter of this year, the lowest volume recorded in more than six decades.

For a nation that once prided itself on “building everything, again and again”,  this slump is not just another dip in the cycle. It exposes deeper structural flaws in how we procure, incentivise and value the materials which literally hold Britain together.

We have lost our edge as front-runners in innovation – but there is a visible window for revival. I believe the route forward is not about producing harder, but procuring smarter: aligning policy, procurement and innovation to cut costs, reduce carbon and rebuild domestic supply chains in one coordinated movement.