They say it鈥檚 an ill wind that blows nobody any good, and there鈥檚 no doubt that there were many businesses 鈥� the makers of surgical masks and Perspex screens foremost among them 鈥� that suddenly found their products and services in huge demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although he would hate people to think he welcomed the pandemic, David Harris, managing director of prefabricated building specialist Premier Modular, cannot deny that Covid-19 stimulated a surge in demand for his products.
Back in June 2020 main contractor BAM Construction awarded Premier a contract to install five single-storey modular buildings comprising 57 steel-framed modules as part of its project to convert a former Homebase DIY store into a 1,700m2聽Nightingale Hospital for the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.聽
The Premier units doubled the size of the existing space to provide additional facilities including a pharmacy, staff welfare, catering, utility rooms, patient transfer areas and stores. The whole thing was delivered in just four weeks.
Then in October, the Department for Health & Social Care put out the call for suppliers to provide temporary buildings for Covid-19 testing sites throughout the UK. The contracts were awarded through the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) framework of which Premier is an approved supplier.
鈥淲e responded immediately to say yes, we鈥檇 be able to help and mobilise very quickly,鈥� says Harris. 鈥淭here was then a very quick process of looking at a notional site, pricing it and explaining how we鈥檇 service the site and on the back of that we got the first 25 awarded to us.聽
鈥淭hey were looking for regional suppliers so we put ourselves down for the North & Midlands as a regional base 鈥� because of course we鈥檙e based in East Yorkshire here 鈥� and very quickly we got given the first 25 sites,鈥� explains Harris.
However, Premier鈥檚 regional base quickly proved to be irrelevant for the client. 鈥淏ecause of our scale and national presence they almost immediately gave us sites that were anywhere from Inverness right down to Portsmouth,鈥� says Harris. In fact, although the first buildings supplied by Premier were installed in Bolton, these were quickly followed by sites in Glasgow, Nottingham and Havant.
Each self-contained test site comprises a 110m2聽purpose-designed testing building, pre-fitted with eight patient cubicles, hygienic walls, separate staff entrances and exits, test collection and drop-off zones and a family testing zone.
In addition, there are welfare facilities in three buildings to accommodate a PPE room, stores, test preparation, staff rest room, kitchenette and toilet 鈥� plus essential services including water supply, wastewater collection and electricity generation.
Although other suppliers have also been appointed, Harris says that Premier was awarded the lion鈥檚 share of the contract 鈥� evidenced by the geographical spread of its sites 鈥� because of its demonstrable ability to deliver.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a large hire fleet of product here which is very interchangeable and flexible so we were able to respond really, really quickly to get these products out on site,鈥� says Harris. 鈥淎nd we have full national coverage anyway so I think they realised we had the capability.鈥�
In fact, no sooner had Premier started to deliver its buildings to the customer鈥檚 site, than the initial order was doubled to 50 sites across the UK.聽
鈥淏efore we鈥檇 delivered the first nine or 10 sites we were basically doubled-up, so they gave us the same number again because we were out there delivering 鈥� which was obviously the priority to get these testing stations open,鈥� adds Harris.
According to Harris, Premier Modular鈥檚 success with this contract is due to a combination of factors which he thinks is unique to the company. The three essential factors (none of which is unique in itself) are that Premier Modular not only manufactures its products but also maintains a large hire fleet; it specialises in buildings made聽up of modular components, rather than聽volumetric cabins; and everything is centralised at the company鈥檚 site in Brandesburton, near Beverley in East Yorkshire.
The single-site factor would appear, on the face of it, to be a disadvantage when you are required to supply products over a territory extending from northern Scotland to the south coast of England. But Harris says the reverse is true:
鈥淲e do have regional operational teams who know their local areas and clients, but by having all the fleet in one place, we can drive huge efficiencies in terms of refurbishment costs 鈥� and we don鈥檛 have to pay for storage,鈥� he explains. 鈥淪o although we鈥檙e paying a little more in transport, our costs are actually lower than if we had products located in separate sites around the country.鈥�
Premier Modular has two discrete trading divisions, one manufacturing and selling permanent modular buildings, the other hiring temporary buildings such as those supplied for the Exeter Nightingale Hospital and the new Covid-19 test centres. The hire division鈥檚 core business, though, is site accommodation for the construction industry which Harris says makes up over 50% of the division鈥檚 revenues.聽
The product, however, is not your typical rectangular box-style site hut. 鈥淲e are the only hire business that is completely modular-focused,鈥� says Harris. 鈥淚f you look at all our competitors, from Portakabin to Wernick to Elliotts, they have large fleets of standalone cabins within their hire makeup and they鈥檙e based nationally in depots. We鈥檙e not like that. If we had standalone cabins, then yes, it would make sense to have a network of depots because cabins are more of a commodity product,鈥� he adds.
Harris explains that Premier Modular鈥檚 buildings combine standard off-the-shelf components with bespoke layouts and finishes. 鈥淐abins are four-sided boxes and you can link them together if you want to. But ours are multiple units spliced together to create a bigger open space. They don鈥檛 need to be very large 鈥� these Covid units are only small, but they鈥檙e not single cabins; that鈥檚 the difference,鈥� he says.
This modular design allowed Premier to produce a building design that met the specification for the Covid-19 test centres exactly, says Harris. 鈥淭hey [the client] were very specific about what would be needed as a minimum space requirement and in terms of how people could or couldn鈥檛 flow through the building, so the internal layout had to be very carefully thought through.鈥�
Each 12m x 9m test centre is made up from three standard modules, but the interior layout is designed specifically for the customer鈥檚 requirements. 鈥淓xternally, it鈥檚 very standardised, but internally, it鈥檚 quite easy for us to chop and change the layout and incorporate special finishes, such as the hygienic wipe-clean surfaces,鈥� says Harris. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 all about the internal fit-out, which we can do in our factories quite quickly,鈥� he says.
The design was developed rapidly in close collaboration with the client. A basic plan was ready a few days before the order was placed; there then followed a number of iterations and design tweaks before the contract was awarded. Harris says the whole process, from initial enquiry to delivery, took less than two weeks.
鈥淚t was an incredibly intense time,鈥� recalls Harris. 鈥淚 can only take my hat off to our commercial, design and operations staff for taking the client requirements and turning them into reality in a little over a week.鈥�
Satisfying the delivery schedules demanded by the client meant ramping up production significantly. 鈥淭his was all about taking product, converting it to bespoke use and getting it out on site as quickly as possible. So we鈥檝e taken about 60 people on and increased our night shift 鈥� partly for this, partly for other work 鈥� but it鈥檚 all about speed of turnaround so we can ensure we can respond to need,鈥� explains Harris.
Premier Modular has a large manufacturing site with five separate production lines, each fully flexible and able to cater for the full product range. 鈥淭hat means we can really speed up or slow down to suit the market and we鈥檙e well used to doing that,鈥� says Harris.
The last of the 50 Covid-19 test centres supplied by Premier Modular are scheduled for delivery in early January. The initial hire period is 26 weeks and Harris doesn鈥檛 expect they鈥檒l be needed any longer than that.
鈥淎t the end, we鈥檒l bring the units back to site here, clean them down, strip out any customer-specifics and then refurbish and repurpose them into other units. They鈥檒l go straight back into the hire fleet and probably end up on construction sites,鈥� says Harris.
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