Partnership in action: collaboration and innovation to tackle the housing crisis
This blog is our summary and key takeaways from Session 7 from the New Homes in New Ways Summit, hosted by Remagin. Watch the Summit on our YouTube channel.
What do partnerships look like in action?
This was a conversation between Peter Forsyth, Director Strategic Initiatives, McCarthy Stone and Scott Bibby, Country Manager UK and Ireland, Etex New Ways.
The session was chaired by Jimmy Overill, business development manager at Remagin. Jimmy opened the conversation by saying that the MMC product for the most part is not the problem, what’s needed for success is good partnerships.
This conversation highlights a partnership case study between McCarthy Stone and Remagin and shows how the right partnership can supply a consistent pipeline for MMC suppliers to enable them to produce at scale. He added that there is no easy solution to the housing crisis, but this is a truly sector-leading partnership, a success story, and part of the answer.
Who is Remagin?
Remagin are offsite construction manufacturing experts operating throughout the UK and Ireland. They are specialists in light gauge steel framing solutions. Etex is their multi-national parent organisation.
Who is McCarthy Stone?
McCarthy Stone is the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities.
What is the partnership?
McCarthy Stone has worked with Remagin on a new, affordable MMC product, and have a target of producing up to 2000 units a year, most of which are apartments. McCarthy Stone is driven by the high demand for senior living accommodation necessitated by an ageing population.
They originally set out to find an MMC partner because they recognised that MMC provided predictability and repeatability of quality (min 50% fewer defects), time-saving (up to 40% shorter programme), and competitive cost, which they added is decreasing overall.
McCarthy Stone ran a competition with five pre-selected suppliers from around Europe, and then assessed price, quality and commitment to develop the product. In the end, Remagin was chosen because of their commitment to innovate and develop the product in partnership. They weren’t the cheapest, but the right partnership was the highest priority as McCarthy Stone had vision for a product that would be tailored to their specific market. They now share their predictable pipeline with Remagin.
Scott emphasised that a consistent pipeline, spread across the whole year was what gave Remagin the consistency they needed to scale up, hire factory workers etc. He added that a partner who understands how offsite works and will adjust their business model around it is truly unique and enables both partners to achieve more than they could alone.
Why partnership?
Peter summarised that to meet their outcomes, McCarthy Stone needed component standardisation (with increasing value added) around optimised design, which in turn generates investment in innovation (which takes time and money), which in turn needs a predictable pipeline of work. Therefore, partnership is the best route to the desired outcomes.
In practice, McCarthy Stone brings the pipeline of projects (and participates in the innovation process), and Remagin brings the innovation and develops and delivers the product.
Roadmap and timeline
2020 - McCarthy Stone confirm their commitment to build 40 new sites using MMC and the partnership begins.
2021 - First job at Hexham, LGSF panels and decking
2022 - Development for window in panel and Magull completed and insulation in panels developed, Konnect Handrails are incorporated into schemes, Cavity Trays and Barriers are pre-fitted to panels at Remagin factory.
2024 - Erdington completed
10 projects completed to date
2025 and beyond - 6 further Evolve projects to be completed in 2025.
Lessons Learnt
Panellists said the key is the quality of the relationship. Trust and openness is required, especially when they fail each other, so that they can learn together. They added that the whole team must be willing to collaborate, not just senior leaders. A second key is drive: both parties pushing things forward, developing the product and sharing the gains.