Wrexham Booming economy
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Wrexham`s economy must be very strong, i say this because it not only supports Wrexham, but also a lot of the country, you are probably a bit confused now, but i shall explain. Rather than keeping all the money that is raised in the area, Wrexham council like to share their wealth around, see below.
T Brown Group (Surrey)
Liberty Gas (liverpool)
Barlows (Malpas)
GM Jones (Llanrwst)
Wilmot Dixon (stoke)
Seddons (Bolton)
CLC (Southhampton)
Forest (Manchester)All these companies are currently working for the council and most are from outside the area, on the other hand the council would argue that they also have local contractors, but they represent a small proportion, why do the council always go straight to big out of town companies to do their work. At the moment there are lots of celebs and MP`S trying to work out how to regenerate the high street, so rather than coming up with wacky ideas, concentrate on the basics, rather than supporting all these other communities keep the money in Wrexham. It would be better for the community if they contacted local businesses, there are plenty of trades in Wrexham, then arrange a meeting to see who was interested in undertaking these projects, compile a list and keep it local, fair enough if no one is interested take it out of the area, but had it been planned correctly they could have had about 10 years work for local companies, starting with the solar pv, then as that is coming to an end start the kitchens then the bathrooms and so on.
But no its all done in a mad rush chasing deadlines. The council will probably say its cheaper this way but how would they know if they dont ask local firms to participate, although these firms will employ some local people the bulk of the money is still leaving Wrexham by the millions. If that money was kept in Wrexham quite a bit would filter down to the local shops and stores, this may result in a busier high street, this is one obvious way to get the high street moving again, if local people have more money to spend in the shops, cafe`s, restaurants, pubs etc it will result in Wrexham having a busy high street again.
I can only think these companies are employed, as it makes the peoples jobs in the council easier, as at the moment all they have to do is call one big company if they have a problem, however if they had a lot of smaller companies to deal with it would make their job a bit harder, but at the end of the day thats what they are paid for.
The people in the council are too daft to realise that their actions not only cost us all more in council tax, but if they live in Wrexham it costs them, maybe if they had kept things local the swimming pools may have not be under threat as more local people may have had more disposable income.Interesting argument.
Emotionally, I tend to agree, rationally I tend towards the best value approach. In an ideal world, the two would be in tandem.
The Council do promote in lots of different ways local companies but, ultimately, they have the interests of the rate payer to consider as well. The backdoor restraint of trade is not always the best way to encourage the success of local companies (who should be encouraged to secure the deal by offering the best products at the best prices and delivered at the most convenient time)
I don’t think the tax payer is getting the best deal these bigger companies have bigger overheads they are traveling many miles just to get to Wrexham that’s before they start work, plus what about the carbon footprint Which they always bang on about, I don’t care what anyone says there is no way a person travelling from Manchester or Liverpool is cheaper than a local trade, plus we will never know because the local trades are not getting a look in. I know they use some local trades but the bulk is given to companies outside the area, and even a company based in Surrey that does not make sense at all, because they will be charging London rates, unless there is some other incentive,
Unfortunately, without looking case by case, it is difficult to comment.
Clearly larger companies will enjoy economies of scale and this makes it difficult for small local companies to compete. Sometimes, as in the case of some of the Consultancy Companies, the Council will approach specialists in a field with a proven track record of success. This is the case with the Company looking at the People’s Market.
I don’t think that pulling up the drawbridge is the way to progress this thing and I would certainly hope that Wrexham Companies will find a market for their products all over Wales, the UK and Europe without localism rearing its head too often. It always sounds good to source locally, but it doesn’t always work out that way in practice
There are a few issues that mean Wrexham Council use outside of area contractors.
1. They have what is called Framework agreements which are supposed to only have contractors that do a job to the required quality at the right price! The latter is debatable as pointed out earlier there are overheads such as travel and accommodation which would not apply to local contractors — the only winner in this scenario are Bed and Breakfast and Hotels!
2. There has to be something wrong at Welsh Government and Local Authority level when they establish Procurement Departments yet very often WCBC DO NOT use the services of the regional buying consortium – fundamental question is why?
3. When you look at consultants reports you can assess that they have been given a closure brief rather than looking at a far broader approach to an issue- if a consultant does not produce a report to meet the needs of Officers or Council Members the report is scrapped and the consultants sacked — look at all of the consultants reports on transport reviews over the years – or the branding of Wrexham a few years ago. Both of these service ares have cost over £300k in 7 years with no results.The bump under the carpet where all these types of reports are buried is getting so large the door won’t be able to open!!
I understand what you are saying and it sounds like you may work for the council, but I have briefly worked for these companies and believe me they are not the cheapest plus the quality of the work is also questionable at times. I have seen what some of these companies get paid, I know they operate on frame work agreements as I worked on a few of the contracts. Another thing you don’t realise is that there has also been on occasions no work for their direct labour lads because of the over use of contractors which has resulted in them just sitting around, as I said previous,you employ a company from down south you will be paying a premium rate, if you are happy for Millon’s of pounds to leave the area every year then you won’t be able to complain when public services are cut. For some reason in this country we seem obsessed to give money away whether it be in overseas aid or in this case around the country, but there’s an old saying charity begins at home, and when the local area is on its bum don’t you think that’s the priority.
Here is an example of the frame work system, I was told by a council official that they pay a maximum of £4k per rewire this is a national average, yet the builder in some cases is paying less than half this to the electrical contractor and sometimes not even half depending on the property, so the builder who has done nothing or supplied anything is getting paid more than the firm doing the job, so providing the builders bill for the electrical is £4k or below it will not get questioned. And this is just one example, still good value now Alun? And this is one of those out of town companies.
What I’d like to know is who from the council goes out to inspect the work that has been carried out by the contractors ? And how often ?
The road surfacing that was carried out just 3 MONTHS AGO by the Crown in Llay is already showing signs of wear, and that is after a relatively mild winter.
I think the big contractors probably know what an easy ride they are getting from WCBC so quality of work is far from a priority.
I fully agree with the lack of inspection- look at King Street and Trinity Street. £1 million project completed in November and the roadway is already crumbling in a number of places and rain water is pooling on pavements. Disgraceful…
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