End of an era as Higgs steps down
There were plenty of industry changing moments for Robert Higgs OBE to reflect on when he retired this summer after a long and distinguished 38 year career at the HVCA.
Here, in conversation with Ewen Rose, he considers a century of industry change; triumphs and tragedies; and what the future might hold for HVCA members.
“Yes, it is a long time to stay in one job, but I don’t think anyone can accuse us of allowing things to stand still during that time.”
So says Robert Higgs OBE looking back over a career in the industry that started in 1973 when he joined the HVCA as assistant commercial secretary and includes 22 years as director/chief executive of the association. He became deputy director to Geoff Cutting in 1980 and only the second person in the 107 year history of the association to hold the top job on a full time basis nine years later.
CITB
Far from standing still, he was straight in at the deep end when the HVCA Council voted to withdraw the h&v sector from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) statutory training levy during his very first Council meeting as director.
It was a momentous decision that totally transformed the industry’s approach to training and continues to have ramifications today. It led to the creation of the HVCA’s own managing agency for apprentice training Building Engineering Services Training (BEST) – the first of a number of expansion steps taken during Mr Higgs’ tenure, including the development of the UK’s register of hvacr operatives that led to the creation of engineering services SKILLcard, the recognised personnel register for the mechanical services sector.
Boom years
There have been few dull days since as he has led the association through stormy recessionary waters and calmer periods of healthy business growth in the boom years. Mrs Thatcher famously claimed to have run the country on just four hours sleep a night, and Mr Higgs says his own ability to work extremely long days has been crucial.
In his first year with the association, as an eager 27-year-old, he witnessed the UK joining the European Economic Community; the introduction of VAT; rising unemployment and rocketing inflation; and industrial unrest leading to the infamous three-day week that broke Ted Heath’s government.
So 1973 was a difficult time to be joining an employers’ body, but the experience has stood him in good stead and his longevity has also been invaluable at key times when the association’s relationships with major industry players, politicians and business leaders has proved a deciding factor.
Latham
The Construction Act is the most important piece of legislation for the sector during his reign and has Mr Higgs fingerprints all over it thanks to his ability to work closely with key industry reformer Sir Michael Latham.
“We had an excellent relationship with Michael Latham and Nick Raynsford [then an opposition MP who became Construction Minister the following year – 1997] who consulted us closely throughout the whole process,” recalls Mr Higgs. “It is a source of considerable pride that the association has always been expected to lead these processes.
Leadership
“If you don’t show leadership, what are you there for? Sometimes we have ended up out on a limb and got ourselves into trouble, but our members expect us to show leadership and we have never shirked from that responsibility.”
It is sometimes forgotten just how significant it was for the industry to secure an Act of Parliament that enshrined fairness over payment practices to contractors. It was a huge advance and one that would not have been possible without the prompting of Mr Higgs and his executive staff at that time.
However, Mr Higgs does not claim problems over payment have gone away. “We will never crack the poor payment nut until companies enforce their legal rights. The legislation only enshrined what was legal and morally right. The tools are now in place, but they count for very little if our members don’t enforce their rights.
“However, I do believe they have made a huge difference during the current economic downturn. Specialist sub-contractors are suffering tough times, but they do at least have more weapons in their armoury to help them secure fair payment terms than they had during the last recession.”
Controversial
Messrs Cutting and Higgs shared the same ambition to make the HVCA a “premier organisation” and as he prepares to retire Mr Higgs believes the association would be more vulnerable, during these difficult economic times, if they had not put their heads above the parapet and taken on these often controversial challenges.
Mr Higgs presided over the creation of a proper regional structure of the association – in the face of quite vociferous opposition at the time – and faced even greater dissent when he set about the most significant reform in the history of the association; the introduction of independent Inspection & Assessment (I&A) for all members.
Established in 2003, this requires all members to submit to in-depth third party checks on their technical and business practices and to meet certain quality standards.
I&A
“Yes, it was risky,” admits Mr Higgs. “But it was the right move and set us apart from other trade associations. We did lose members as a result, but not many – and this was a member-led initiative; they wanted it as a way of making sure membership of the HVCA stood for something meaningful to their clients.”
His role has also taken him well beyond the normal bounds of a trade association. He was the first co-ordinating director of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group – the umbrella body covering six trade associations representing the interests of over 60,000 specialist engineering firms and a total workforce of over 300,000.
He also played a significant international role by helping to establish the International Alliance of Mechanical Contractors’ Associations (IAMCA), which links the HVCA with sister bodies in the US, Australia and Canada, and the development of the pan-European body GCI-UICP.
OBE
His dedication and willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty received the ultimate recognition in 2006 when he was awarded the OBE by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. And it is tempting to mark the career of such a significant industry figure in major milestones and big sector changes, but Mr Higgs prefers to concentrate on the personal relationships that frame those events.
“It has always been about the people,” he says. “That is why I have stayed so long. There was a time when I thought it would be nice to be headhunted for some major public role, but two things kept me here: The people around me and the fact that the role kept changing all the time. There was always so much to do.”
Yet there have been disappointments. The slowness of government and major clients to embrace the culture of integrated project teams remains a serious concern. Mr Higgs, and others, feel this will be critical to the ability of the industry to deliver major improvements in sustainability and lifecycle performance. However, he believes it will come.
Convergence
Closer to home, the collapse of convergence discussions with sister body the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) last year was a bitter personal blow. Mr Higgs felt confident that, properly presented and promoted, the concept that had been the subject of detailed development with the ECA over nearly four years would have been broadly acceptable to HVCA members, but the ECA was not able to overcome its own obstacles and had to accept defeat.
“It is a source of disappointment, but not regret,” he says. “It was right for us to attempt convergence, but it was not to be and we move on.”
So what does the future hold for the association into which he has poured so much dedication and effort?
“If nothing else, our efforts to reform contract conditions and project processes have helped to reinforce the role of the specialist contractor, but the old linear, hierarchical contract structures must change. Integration is absolutely crucial to our ability to deliver the sustainable building stock so vital to the country’s future.”
Modern tools
He believes alliances of like-minded companies using modern tools, such as offsite fabrication and Building Information Modelling (BIM), will be necessary if low carbon solutions are to be successful.
“It will happen, but we need it to happen quickly,” says Mr Higgs. “The sheer scale of the challenge to refurbish the existing building stock over the next 40 years relies on a modern, streamlined and integrated supply chain populated by multi-skilled workers. Our members will have to adapt – as they have adapted in the past to changing markets.
“However, the latest recession saw many of the bad old habits of Dutch Auctions and aggressive payment practices coming back. This hinders progress and puts successful businesses in jeopardy. I worry that we may have to wait for a whole new generation of managers to come along before we see this sort of behaviour consigned to history – and we can’t wait that long.”
