Industrialised construction

We are beginning our mission to transform the UK’s construction industry in Liverpool – a city which has long been at the forefront of innovation and creativity. The digital technologies and manufacturing methods developed here will help us speed up how we can build more homes, schools, and hospitals right across the UK. This work will help us set the benchmark for how we deliver high-quality infrastructure more efficiently, directly benefitting communities. By supporting this initiative, we are backing more high-skilled jobs for Liverpool while also bringing our construction industry into the digital age.

We already have strong examples of digitalised and industrialised construction delivering real benefits on individual projects. However, progress has been held back because incentives, pipelines and data remain fragmented. Industry transformation cannot happen through isolated adoption alone — the Industrialising and Digitalising Construction Challenge will drive integration across the sector by aligning demand, standards and delivery models.

Delivering the high-quality economic and social infrastructure the country needs means giving the construction sector the confidence to invest in skills, capacity and new technologies. By providing certainty of demand and enabling greater coordination between manufacturing and assembly, this new investment can deliver tangible benefits for suppliers, clients and society, through reducing cost and waste and enabling greater investment in the UK’s construction workforce. NISTA is in a unique position to collaborate with our partners across government and industry to champion the opportunities which modern methods of construction provide, including an alternative career pathway into delivering the range of exciting projects across our pipeline.

Our responsibility is to deliver affordable homes to a high standard, which are affordable to rent or buy and live in. Being part of this programme gives us the opportunity to bring greater consistency and predictability into how we build, improving programme certainty, and strengthening long-term value for our residents. To achieve this, we need to innovate and change the way we build by harnessing the advanced manufacturing capacity that exists in Merseyside. Delivering more high-quality social housing will directly benefit the people who depend on us and the community as a whole.

As the largest developing registered provider in the North West with its own building company, Torus is well placed to realise the benefits of improving construction. “By embracing new approaches through this initiative, we can deliver better quality homes in a way that supports skills, local supply chains and regeneration in our communities. With the country in desperate need of more high-quality affordable homes, it is vital initiatives that can accelerate delivery are explored if we are to cut waiting lists and reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation.

The UK will not build the vital infrastructure and housing needed without investment and transforming how the construction industry delivers its work. We welcome this pilot, which will open significant opportunities within the social housing sector to improve productivity, reduce costs and speed up construction, enabling better performance and deliver high growth to the wider economy and its workforce.

The launch of this challenge represents a huge opportunity for the construction industry to explore ways to reform its production methods using the latest technological thinking combined with sustainable manufacturing models. The hard experiences of recent years have demonstrated that long term change only happens when it is demand led and economically viable. As a member of the Challenge Programme Board and chair of the Advisory Group, I will be focused on applying these guiding principles to steer the direction of the programme as well as promoting international collaboration where appropriate.

We are proud to be the delivery partner for the Industrialising and Digitalising Construction Challenge. Working closely with industry and our manufacturing innovation centres we will develop the technology platform, business models and industry partnerships needed to make this vision a reality. I am keen that the Challenge builds on the many foundations already in place to ensure that together we create a more productive sector that can support new jobs, opportunities and growth.

Liverpool City Region’s rich industrial heritage and openness to innovation make it an ideal testbed for a more industrialised, digitally enabled model of construction. The region has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to lead national pilot programmes, from its coordinated COVID‑19 mass‑testing pilot to large‑scale innovation trials in health, transport and advanced manufacturing. That proven capacity to mobilise partners quickly, test at pace and scale what works is exactly why Liverpool has been selected for this challenge. As the pilot’s lead, I will collaborate with stakeholders across government, housing, manufacturing and industry to accelerate rapid testing, adaptation and refinement. Drawing on the region’s advanced manufacturing strengths and its strong culture of joint working, this pilot gives us a unique opportunity to demonstrate how standardisation, digital coordination and predictable demand can transform delivery.

The Industrialising and Digitalising Construction Challenge marks the beginning of a new phase in the sector’s journey towards a more productive, more sustainable future. For some time, forward thinking clients and businesses have recognised that the barrier to scaling manufacturing‑led approaches is not technical capability, but the absence of a wider delivery system to support them. The Challenge will address this directly and I am proud to be a part of this exciting new chapter.

This challenge presents an outstanding opportunity to drive meaningful transformation across the sector. Its unique approach—grounded in collaboration and a commitment to uniting all industry stakeholders—creates an unparalleled platform to move the industry forward at pace and scale.

By building on the foundations laid by the Construction Innovation Hub, the Industrialising and Digitalising Construction Challenge programme and this pilot will give the construction industry a clear route to scale modern, smarter ways of building that will enable it to grow. The innovation ecosystem in Liverpool offers an ideal launchpad to create this blueprint for industry, unlocking the productivity, skills and sustainability gains for manufacturers to seize the opportunities available in construction in the future.

The Industrialising and Digitalising Construction Challenge marks a significant step forward for the sector, advancing and scaling approaches that Akerlof has seen succeed in small pockets of public-sector investment. We look forward to helping to shape a challenge that builds market confidence and supports the sector to deliver better outcomes.

A cohort that can harnesses and stimulate economic growth. Together, industry and the public sector, can capitalise from an integrated ecosystem that generates innovative solutions designed to uplift productivity and growth. “The Challenge enables British ceiling manufacturers like SAS International to shape new pathways and develop new partnerships that can positively redesign elements of UK construction. Founded in 1968, SAS employs over 700 people and has contributed to landmark projects worldwide. Our growth, and that of the UK economy, lies in the investment of production efficiencies and automation; creating a new digital marketplace - a catalyst that fosters success.

The Industrialising and Digitalising Construction Challenge represents a significant opportunity for UK manufacturers to engage at a meaningful level in the future of construction. Tata Steel UK looks forward to working with the team through our involvement in the Manufacturers’ Information Hub, digitally, and through our innovative low emissions steel construction solutions from our local Shotton Building Systems site.

It’s great to see the UK Government investing in innovation and skills through this Challenge, as part of the R&D Missions Accelerator Programme, recognising the role industrialising and digitalising construction will play in transforming the sector. By applying a manufacturing approach and platform thinking, we have a real opportunity to deliver high-performing homes and social infrastructure at scale, while building long-term capability across the supply chain. Working alongside Mark Farmer on the Advisory Group for the Challenge, I’m pleased to be helping shape a programme that can drive lasting change in how we design and deliver the built environment across the UK. The Liverpool City Region is an ideal location for the first pilot, with a strong ecosystem of innovative supply chain and industry partners ready to demonstrate what can be achieved.