As news reaches us of emergency ‘doomsday’ planning in Whitehall, we take a look at Staffordshire-based civil engineering company APB Group, whose managing director Andy Graham has stressed the value of reinvention and adaptability
Leadership Today
The Times is today reporting that ‘an emergency blueprint for responding to a no-deal Brexit coinciding with a sharp rise in coronavirus infections’ has been drawn up in Whitehall.
With the seventh round of UK-EU negotiations ending in deadlock, there is now a real chance that no deal will be in place when the transition agreement comes to an end on December 31st. As such, civil service mandarins have been hard at work preparing for what has been called the ‘worst case scenario’ that would occur in the case of both a ‘no-deal’ outcome and a second wave of Covid-19.
As well as the potential for hospitals to be overwhelmed and a shortage of goods, the plans also include preparation for adverse weather conditions leading to bad flooding and the proliferation of animal diseases in the event of medicines being held up at the border.
The ultimate fear is that Britain could be hit by several crises at once. Were this to happen, the leadership of Boris Johnson, the government and the civil service would be called into question like never before.
It must be noted, however, that these plans are very much a case of preparing for the worst. There is no indication from the civil service that they expect either a no-deal outcome or a nation-wide second wave.
Leadership in Focus
Nonetheless, these are undoubtedly highly challenging times for the government and for the many small and medium sized businesses who help keep the country running.
One such organisation is APB Group, a civil engineering company who have worked with many prestigious and leading UK blue chip organisations, including Network Rail, Balfour Beatty, Galliford Try, Farrans, AMCO, Murphys, the Canal & River Trust, the National Trust, English
Heritage and BAM Nuttall, as well as a number of local authority clients.
Established in 1986, the company has held a principal contractor’s license for Network Rail for more than twelve years.
And, writing in The Parliamentary Review, APB’s managing director Andy Graham has stressed the importance of adapting to an ever changing environment. With words of advice that could prove valuable to members of the government, civil servants and other leaders of organisations throughout the country, Graham said:
‘We at APB personally believe that we have the flexibility to be a chameleon, with the ability to reinvent ourselves while continually developing and responding to industry changes.’
‘We started our life in mining contracting, and have since been able to hone our skills in the civil engineering market with the demise of the coal industry.’
In business and in government, enduring success is only possible if you are prepared to adapt as the world around you changes.
Graham’s comments on education, which were made last year, are also very relevant at the moment as the government continues to deal with the fall out from this year’s GCSE and A-Level results.
Among many other issues, the results drew attention to the fact that Universities routinely offer more places than they can accommodate on the basis that a significant percentage of those offered places will fail to get the required grades.
Graham makes the case that perhaps we are sending too many young people to university in the first place.:
‘There’s something of a legacy hangover from successive governments that has remained a challenge. Research would suggest that too much focus has been placed on encouraging
young people into university education, while apprenticeships alongside technical and industry training have fallen by the wayside somewhat.
‘Graduates are coming into the industry as inexperienced managers with limited technical experience and knowledge. Our industry could gain so much from the increase in work-based training alongside specialised academic development. Government, industry and education need to work together to change this focus.’
Leadership in History
On this day in 410, the ’Sack of Rome’ was undertaken by the Visigoths and their King, Alaric. It was the first time in almost 800 years. It has been seen as a major landmark in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
