Title

How to become the client of choice in a competitive construction market

Section
Insight
Summary

By Louise Roberts

Competition for top-tier delivery teams is intensifying rapidly in the construction industry. Amid high demand and not enough supply, how can you position yourself as the partner of choice for suppliers who deliver quality, on time, and on budget?

It has never been more critical for clients to build strong relationships with delivery partners. Rising material costs, skilled labour shortages, tight programme deadlines, and multiple UK-wide infrastructure projects mean that the best delivery partners are in high demand. Without the right approach, top-tier suppliers can easily slip through your fingers.

Below are four key ways clients in the construction industry can position themselves as the partner of choice, based on our extensive experience working on construction procurement projects globally.
 

1. Build supplier confidence before you go to market

Suppliers start assessing opportunities long before tenders are released – and many organisations overestimate the level of supplier interest they can attract. This can lead to client signals and behaviours that deter supplier engagement, such as inflexible processes or limited transparency.
 

Below are three key behaviours at the pre-procurement stage that can help you stand out as a procurement partner of choice:
 
  • Treat procurement as a partnership, not a transaction. Adversarial, rigid, or one-sided approaches will put top-tier suppliers off or result in poor outcomes down the line. 
     
  • Make sure your procurement process is streamlined and accessible for suppliers. Minimise unnecessary admin by only asking for essential information, and make sure the effort required from the supplier matches the size of the opportunity. Make it clear what you’re looking for: provide clear evaluation criteria and timelines.
     
  • Articulate why suppliers should choose you – whether it’s your long pipeline or competitive commercial terms – and maintain that behaviour throughout the relationship.

2. Share what’s coming

Once you’ve secured supplier engagement, the next step is to give them confidence in what’s coming next. 

In the public and utilities sectors, many construction relationships are built from framework agreements, which provide an effective and efficient route to market via a pre-qualified supply chain, but do not guarantee work for suppliers. 

Sharing a clear annual pipeline of work begins to earn supplier trust: 
 
  • Be transparent about your needs, programmes of work, and timelines. When key information is missing or communicated too late, suppliers have no choice but to operate reactively – usually resulting in a higher cost and lower quality.
     
  • Vague intent signals get vague supplier responses. Suppliers need confidence that the opportunities you’re presenting are real and worth prioritising over others. Share forward work plans in tender briefings or pre-start meetings; even if they’re provisional, this signals long-term thinking. A delivery partner who has insight into future opportunities, not just live projects, is far more likely to stay loyal and prioritise your work. Where possible, offer real volume and purchase commitments.

 

When delivery partners know what's coming, they can:

  • Allocate labour and specialist resources early
  • Secure long lead-time materials in advance
  • Optimise their own cash flow planning
  • Prioritise your projects over others

3. Collaborate early, communicate often

Construction projects are successful when clients and suppliers work together as a team, not in isolation. Clients that bring contractors and design teams into the project early and treat them as strategic partners, instead of passive executors, have historically realised better project outcomes. Transparency reduces late-stage surprises and rework, lowers the risk of disputes, builds mutual accountability, and creates a better working environment on site. 
 

Below are examples of collaborative client behaviours:
 
  • Involve delivery teams from the start, during the design and planning phases, via design coordination workshops.
     
  • Be open and upfront about constraints, risks, and potential changes.
     
  • Communicate any programme and design changes promptly. Plans and priorities can change quickly. While changes in plans and priorities are to be expected in construction programmes, client responses can make all the difference. Notifying the supply chain of changes as early as possible helps to mitigate risks, enables collaborative problem solving, and strengthens trust in the relationship.
     
  • Foster a no-blame, solutions-first culture.
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  • Run 360-degree feedback sessions and join project reviews to help teams improve on an ongoing basis.

4. Pay promptly and fairly

Healthy cash flow is oxygen to construction supply chains. For subcontractors, SMEs, and specialist trades, payment delays aren’t just an inconvenience; they threaten their very existence – and, by extension, the survival of entire supply chains.

To minimise financial risk for suppliers, 30-day term should mean 30 days in practice – not 60 or 90 – and disputes should be resolved quickly. Consistent payment practices also represent integrity and respect for your delivery partners.

Reputation travels fast. Clients known for their prompt, fair payment practices quickly top the list for quality partners assessing which jobs to prioritise. The reverse is equally true: organisations with a reputation for late or unfair payment practices will fail to secure their preferred suppliers.

Prompt payment must be championed across the entire construction supply chain, not just at the Tier 1 level. Embedding fair and prompt payment obligations into contracts at every level isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s effective risk management. It protects delivery continuity and contributes to your ability to attract high-quality partners.

Client behaviours inform delivery outcomes

In construction, success is built on collaborative relationships – and those relationships are strongest when clients lead with clarity, fairness, and respect.

By sharing pipeline visibility, fostering collaboration, and paying on time, you can become the client that top contractors will prioritise. The result? A more resilient supply chain, improved project outcomes, and greater value for money, delivered consistently.