Modern Methods of Construction use digital technologies and off-site fabrication to deliver safer, more efficient, and sustainable alternatives to traditional methods.  

Wrexham Council commissioned us to advise on how these techniques could be used in it first major social housing development in over 30 years.

We profiled the opportunities and required investment to adopt digital and manufacturing-based approaches in construction. The suitability of these approaches for the proposed development were reviewed and distilled into a comprehensive briefing paper and strategy.

A key focus of our work was on developing a procurement strategy. This addressed the council’s ambitions to stimulate economic growth by building the capabilities and competitiveness of the local supply chain. It comprised a review of the local supply chain and skills base. We also worked closely with local suppliers to understand the barriers to adopting these techniques, the potential to expand and develop new skills, and how the council could use this investment to support local job creation. 

Our recommendations included creating a new database with other local authorities, to create a central source of build cost data for modular, repeatable housing projects. It also included taking advantage of a UK-wide data platform for Design for Manufacturing and Assembly, standardising and streamlining procurement processes.  

Procurement is one of the key tools local authorities have to shape local economies – and this project shows how a data-led approach can achieve wider policy goals.