WELCOME _ DRILLING DOWN
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Welcome
Enough is enough
A s margins tighten and client customers and organise work matters. Digital tools are no longer just for larger firms with dedicated IT teams. Increasingly, they are accessible, affordable and can make a real difference for small businesses. In this edition’s Drilling Down section, you’ll read about members who are putting innovation into practice. Some are developing their own software to solve day-to-day challenges. expectations rise, how we manage information, communicate with Others are using tools to record site conversations, keep everyone on the same page and reduce paperwork. AI is helping with routine tasks, from drafting documents and organising notes to improving marketing and responding to enquiries more efficiently. None of this replaces skill or experience, but it can free up time and support better decision-making. At the FMB, we are building a dedicated innovation and technology hub on our website to help you cut through the noise so you know what is worth your time, what could genuinely help, and what might not be a priority right now. It will bring together guidance, webinars, podcasts and member stories in one place. You do not need to adopt every new tool. But staying informed and open to improvement will help you stay competitive and ready for what comes next. Practical innovation
A few years ago, I walked onto one of my building sites and realised we’d been cleaned out overnight. We lost around £70,000 worth of tools and equipment. Chop saws, lifting gear for steel beams – even my golf clubs disappeared. I’d taken them out of the van while picking up materials and left them on site. The theft was bad, but what followed was worse. Like most people working in construction, I had receipts scattered everywhere – in the van, in old folders, some long gone. When it came to claiming from insurance, I spent weeks digging through paperwork and sending bundles of receipts back and forth. Some were unreadable, some weren’t clear enough, and the process dragged on for two months. In the end, I only recovered around 40% of what was stolen because I couldn’t prove ownership of everything. If tool theft is so common, why is the process for dealing with so slow and tedious? That experience pushed me to create KYNEKT. I’m not a tech founder from outside of the industry. I’m a builder who got tired of seeing the same thing happen over and over again – to me, my workers, and other tradespeople. I wanted change. KYNEKT is about making it easier for builders to keep track of their tools, prove ownership if something goes missing, and make stolen equipment far less useful to thieves.
JAMES MURDOCH is Founder of KYNEKT
LIZ PORTER is Head of Digital at the FMB
SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT Master Builder 25
www.fmb.org.uk
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