The Prime Minister, David Cameron, visited a London construction site this week to congratulate Balfour Beatty on its plans to use 10% of its turnover to fund the supply chain supporting small businesses. With its total turnover expected to exceed £10bn that means over £1bn of business to be placed.

Last year the company spent £750 million placing orders with both small and medium subcontractors and suppliers. That will increase again this year with the total making it the largest ever by a UK construction company. It has a network of more than 8,000 suppliers, 6,000 of which are classed as small or medium sized businesses and they are involved in working on over a thousand active projects across the country at any one time.

The company has developed its own blueprint strategy so that it commits to have its supply chain audited by an independent organisation so it can show how much is spent. Its last set of figures could even show how much was spent with businesses that were owned by women, last year this was actually in excess of £40 million.

This approach is certainly giving them great insights into how to make sure money is well spent. The PM was obviously impressed seeing this as a great example of how the Government’s economic policies are working, but no matter who you are and what your politics are, he had to dress correctly for the occasion by being decked out in hi-vis jacket and hard hat. So if you want to stay as safe make sure you check the great range of safety clothing we offer on the website.