Contractors complain subcontractors don't respond to enquiries, but their treatment of the smaller firms is cause of all the problems

I was on a site doing a pre-tender survey recently when two of the contractors I favour (because they actually pay on time!) “bumped” into each other.

The conversation went quickly to the recent upturn in enquiries. Much was made of the fact that the contractors had cut their workforces in the last two years and so, heaven forbid, even contract managers were now needed to support the estimating team and organise pretender surveys.