Reflecting on my first year at SCAPE

What struck me most in my few months in the business was the depth and breadth of the SCAPE Group. The opportunity we have to support the public sector is boundless, whether that be through our SCAPE Framework businesses, Arc Partnership’s work to deliver an efficient, safe and sustainable land and property portfolio for Nottinghamshire County Council, our architect practice, Lungfish Architects or our digital waste management platform, Construction Waste Portal.

All our colleagues and businesses have a shared common goal; to bring added value and efficiency to the public sector. For our Framework businesses, this became further evidential when we became the only procurement authority to achieve the Gold Standard Verification across all our frameworks in August. Gold Standard verification allows us to demonstrate the value that best-in-class procurement offers in delivering continuous improvement and shared learning for our public sector clients.

However, it would be remiss of me not to mention our partners and clients. Our collaborative working relationship is vital in enabling us to deliver sustainable, high-quality projects.

I have enjoyed growing and enriching my relationships with partners and clients over the year, which has included travelling across the UK to see the impact that our projects are making in local communities.

Notwithstanding the challenging climate we operate in, I have been struck by the fantastic projects that we deliver with our partners and clients. We can shape a positive future. In our Building for Good: A Charter for Change, we discuss how decision-makers must take swift action to accelerate the recovery of the public estate. We need to be accountable as we have the gift to change, and we know only by advocating for a brighter, greener future for the industry, can we really deliver real value to public sector clients.

I would like to thank our partners, clients and my colleagues who have all been so welcoming and taken their time to share their passion, knowledge and views with me. I recently attended SCAPE’s annual charity quiz in Nottingham. This coincided with my one-year anniversary with SCAPE, and I found myself reflecting on the past year. In the room, was a mixture of colleagues, partners and people I had built relationships with, all of whom had come together to support the SCAPE group of companies and our chosen charities Footprints and PASIC for the night. It showed the true power of partnership and collaboration, which is ultimately at the heart of SCAPE Group.