Partnering. What a wonderful concept. one online dictionary defines a partner as: "One that is united or associated with another in an activity or a sphere of common interest, especially members of a business partnership." The Oxford English dictionary site says it's "a person who takes part in an undertaking with another or others, especially in a business with shared risks and profits". Great - I'll have some of that! This partnering lark is the holy grail for bottom-of-the-food-chain subcontractors like us. Over the past five to 10 years, the concept of partnering has really taken off in our industry. I say "the concept" because in our experience those definitions of partnering are radically different to the reality. This is, when it comes to winning the contract, the lowest price wins, regardless of whether the lowest price subcontractor fulfils the main contractor's supply-chain standards or not.
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