Construction’s Supply Crisis: Spec to Site - The Supplier Squeeze

Construction projects don’t just face design and build challenges - they face supply chain realities that shape everything from programme certainty to project viability.

In this episode of Hard Hat Talks, Kenneth Martin is joined by Greig Denham of Moda Ceramics to discuss the mounting pressures affecting construction suppliers and the wider industry. From global sourcing disruptions and logistics bottlenecks to manufacturing energy costs and evolving procurement risks, the conversation explores how these factors are reshaping specification decisions, pricing stability, and delivery timelines across the sector.

Greig explains why suppliers are increasingly becoming strategic project partners rather than late-stage procurement decisions, and why early collaboration between designers, contractors, and manufacturers is now essential to avoid redesign, substitutions, and costly delays.

Whether you are an architect, developer, contractor, or consultant, this episode offers valuable insights into navigating procurement uncertainty and building more resilient project delivery strategies.

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What You’ll Learn

• The real supply chain pressures affecting UK construction

• How manufacturing costs are driving pricing volatility

• Why procurement timelines are becoming longer and more complex

• The risks created by late specification decisions

• How early supplier engagement improves project certainty

• Practical steps to strengthen procurement resilience

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00:00 Introduction
02:10 Supplier perspective on industry challenges
05:40 Global sourcing and logistics pressures
10:00 Energy costs and manufacturing pricing
14:20 Programme impacts from supply disruption
18:30 Specification timing risks
23:10 Early supplier engagement benefits
28:00 Collaboration across project teams
32:20 Industry outlook

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