The Centre for Construction Best Practice (CCBP) is proud to welcome Stepnell as its latest Corporate Partner, strengthening its growing programme of research into procurement reform, sustainability and industry best practice.
CCBP was established to close the gap between academia and industry by using its Advisory Boards and Corporate Partner network to ensure that knowledge, experience and feedback move in both directions, and turns into tangible improvements in project delivery, sustainability and sector culture.
Stepnell says it is committed to supporting that mission, and to helping tackle complex industry challenges CCBP was set up to address, including collaboration, skills shortages and sustainability.
As a Corporate Partner, Stepnell will contribute its knowledge and site-level experience to help support CCBP’s research agenda and sector engagement programme, while its own workforce and supply chain will gain direct access to CCBP’s reports, guidance and expertise.
Stepnell’s involvement with CCBP dates back to the centre’s earliest research work, with the business taking part in industry panels and roundtables since its inception. During CCBP’s first research piece on Early Contractor Involvement (ECI), Tom Sewell, Regional Director at Stepnell, attended the advisory roundtable that helped shape the study, with Stepnell contributing case studies and real project data that enabled CCBP to develop its final report and recommendations.
As part of the partnership, Stepnell will continue to take part in CCBP’s research agenda and sector engagement programme, which will next turn to Whole Life Carbon Assessments (WLCAs). This will include contributing insights, data and supply chain feedback to CCBP’s reports, industry working groups and events that bring practitioners and academics together. Stepnell says the approach reflects its own ‘Teamship’ values and its commitment to sharing ideas, effort and resources in pursuit of goals that benefit the industry as a whole.
The partnered organisations also aim to demonstrate that sustainable construction can deliver commercial as well as environmental benefits. By combining CCBP’s research capability with Stepnell’s project experience, they will look to show how early contractor involvement can reduce waste, improve cost certainty and lower whole-life carbon, building a stronger evidence base for future policy and procurement decisions. This builds on Stepnell’s own sustainability initiatives such as 100% closed-loop recycling, MMC, ISO 50001 and ISO 14064-1, which look to identify sustainability opportunities on its projects from the earliest possible stage. Over the course of the partnership, CCBP will platform Stepnell across the industry through expert webinars and panels, and by building relationships with organisations that share Stepnell’s genuine commitment to sustainability.
As a Corporate Partner, Stepnell will also gain access to CCBP’s Member Portal which contains a database of academic research, industry reports and webinars on industry themes that can be shared with their teams and supply chain.