The UK’s new chief construction officer has been urged by recruiters to demonstrate a clear understanding of value for money.

The government has announced it will appoint a chief construction officer, tasked with securing better value for money from the public sector’s construction spend, to oversee industry procurement.

Colin Woodward, director at Contract Scotland, told Recruiter that the cheapest contractor quote did not always represent value for money.

“The public sector purse is going to have less in it next year than this year. There is a pressure on costs now. Value for money does not necessarily mean that it is going to be done cheap - it has got to be done better for everyone’s benefit.”

Andrew Conder, managing director at ACS Resourcing, adds: “We need people to help bolster the UK economy. This person needs to take into consideration that it is the country’s money they are playing with, so they need to put it back into the country and make sure the firms that are tendering for business are UK-based firms.”