In 2025 Vivalda Group celebrates its 25th anniversary in business. To mark the milestone, Total Contractor interviewed founder and chairman Peter Johnson about the past, present and future of the cladding sector.
Q: Vivalda has now reached its 25th anniversary. How has the façade sector changed over that time?
A: Immeasurably. Back in the day, specifically the late eighties / early nineties, a 1,000m2 project was the talk of the entire UK; now it’s considered to be worthwhile, but compare it to the 30,000m2 projects which are out there now. Those times were a good deal more innocent too, it was only much later that companies with questionable products and methods entered the market. It took two appalling tragedies – Lakanal House and Grenfell Tower (both in London) – to bring them to heel.
Q: What have been the key challenges you’ve faced over that time – and would you have done anything differently?
A: I often think about this – and then it dawns on me that we’re still here all this time later. Somewhat philosophically I tell myself I can’t have done that much wrong! But yes, I would have expanded our product offering more rapidly – specifically building on our ‘first mover’ advantage in glass reinforced concrete (GRC) to include products such as brick slip, natural terracotta and our own in-house designed and manufactured solid aluminium cladding MetSkin.
As for the challenges – well that has always been, and remains, recruiting what I would call Vivalda people. Colleagues with ambition and a will to win who will fit into the existing team. Plus ça change!
Q: How has the specification process changed in recent years? What effect is the Building Safety Act having on the business?
A: It’s only anecdotal evidence, but I don’t see the same blanket coverage from the big, Europe-wide manufacturers as was the case in the noughties. Nowadays, at least from what I see is the small, dynamic manufacturer, usually of bespoke metal claddings, targeting individual projects for themselves. There are also a great deal more fixing accessories than once was the case, all of which have been developed with safety in mind, as well as designed to simplify the installation process.
As for the BSA, don’t ask me: ask the hundreds, if not thousands of developers whose projects have been delayed. No one wants to go back to the days pre-Act, but a little more thought about its early-days effect on project delays would have been welcome.
Q: What about cladding materials? Has the choice widened much over the last decade and a half?
A: Goodness me yes! I don’t want to come the ‘old soldier’, but when I started in the industry in April 1980, there were just two material options – and one of those was asbestos based! The rest was, by & large, traditional brickwork. Now the market is blessed with a huge choice, much of it highly innovative and, of course, rigorously tested for safety.
Q: Thinking about the growth of Vivalda, what are you most proud of?
A: Being consistently being able to pay my staff bang on time, that’s 309 months and not one missed payday. In this industry with many under-capitalised contractors, it’s not unusual to hear stories about companies who’ve gone under owing wages. Wages – it’s only a short word and yet it encapsulates peoples’ mortgage payments, rent, food on the table.
Think about it, it’s the human aspect, the same belief that meant we paid all staff 100% salary during lockdown. Vivalda Group is well capitalised and it’s not unusual for the occasional financial whizz-kid to come along telling me to evaporate the cash pile with a dividend payment and put the property up for sale and leaseback. No thanks – my staff and suppliers can bank (no pun intended) on payment and I can sleep at night. “Salt it down for a rainy day”, my old dad used to say. Never a truer word spoken.
Q: What advice would you give to a young person starting out in the building materials sector?
A: Have a plan, a work ethic and build up your cash. I spent the first four years living in the office to save money. Between 1991 and 2008 there was growth in the economy and many people entered the workplace not knowing what a recession was. I would never presume to forecast what and when the next crisis will be, but you can be sure there will be one. Can anyone remember an ‘expert’ forecasting a financial crash or a pandemic heading our way? Me neither.
Q: Looking ahead, how can the government encourage growth in the industry?
A: Increase the pace with the planning & Building & Safety Act processes. There is so much work stuck in the pipeline that everyone feels the pain – the investors, the developers, the construction industry as a whole, those seeking employment and, last but by no means least, those needing a home, particularly first-time buyers.