VINCI Construction UK: The Positives of Implementing WebContractor

A specialist civil engineering, construction and facilities management company, VINCI Construction UK Limited is part of the global VINCI Group. Known for innovation, creativity and technological mastery, VINCI is able to tackle the most complex of projects. Working on new-build and refurbishment schemes as well as long-term contracts, the business operates and maintains assets and facilities. Clients include national government, local authorities, transport bodies, hospitals, universities, housing providers, retailers and commercial firms in every sector.

Before introducing WebContractor, VINCI’s internal team were burning hours of time manually processing payment applications. Aware this wasn’t the best use of so much of the team’s time, and conscious of the potential risks that can come with it, VINCI decided it was time for a solution that would streamline the entire process and revolutionise their ways of working. 

Already in contact with WebContractor Founder, Matthew Jones, and aware of the solution and its benefits, VINCI made the decision to implement WebContractor. This allowed them to onboard quickly, swiftly switching out old manual methods and introducing one streamlined process for Applications for Payment. 

Chris Brennan, Group Finance Director at VINCI Construction UK talks about the WebContractor project, the motivations for the change and objectives for the platform: “Implementing a system with one smooth process instantly helped us as a business. Now there is only one way for people to apply for money and only one platform where we review it. It is completely transparent and we can now see the whole journey, what the progress has been and what can happen next.” 

“We’d always been conscious of missing subcontractor applications and by default ending up in a vulnerable position when it comes to payment. We were wary of this and had to constantly ensure we were on top of everything so that applications weren’t missed. WebContractor was actually introduced at the perfect time for us as a business, as it was at a point where a number of subcontractors were demanding huge amounts of money that they may have not been entitled to – the solution made this a lot clearer and easier to manage.”

WebContractor is now used across VINCI’s entire Building division and was recently implemented across all projects for the Taylor Woodrow civil engineering business.

When speaking on the main benefits of using WebContractor, Chris added: “It really does have a positive impact on our workflow, as having total visibility of where everything is up to within the subcontractor process has saved hours of time. There are so many different timelines we have to monitor to ensure we’re on top of assessments and the issuing of payment notices. WebContractor has allowed us to have total control of this from the very beginning through to paying. It ensures we haven’t missed anything and I don’t think we’ve missed a single payment since implementing it.” 

WebContractor can also help construction businesses deal effectively with the regulations of the new Domestic VAT Reverse Charge and the challenges faced from further tightening of the Prompt Payment Code, which happened in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The solution supports the introduction of new changes, whilst reducing operational risk and ensuring a smooth process. Asked if the platform has supported VINCI during the transition period, Chris said:

“It has worked for us – it was a strange time to make such huge industry changes in the middle of a pandemic, but we’ve managed it and the platform has helped. With Prompt Payment, we did often struggle with identifying the small subcontractors previously, which WebContractor has helped with. We do however believe our payment terms have always been good, so we’re confident in our ability to follow the new code and processes.” 

Lastly, when asked for feedback on the service, Chris added: “I met with the team recently and I was impressed. My relationship was initially with Matthew from when he first approached us in 2017, but the level of resource and experience WebContractor has to hand is great. Having an insight into how the team operates is really good to see. The service is always good and any issues are resolved fairly easily. For us, the ability to oversee everything on all of our projects – which applications have been dealt with in time, which need actioning, etc., is such a huge advantage. We just love the visibility WebContractor gives.”