26 September 2025

A survey recently highlighted in Construction News found that 85% of UK construction firms feel held back by legacy systems, with many approaching innovation in an “ad hoc” way.

Frankly, we were surprised.

Not because we doubt the data, but because it feels like a lagging indicator. Our conversations with the UK’s major contractors, developers and frameworks tell a different story over the past couple of months alone – one of immense appetite for change. The overwhelming feeling we get on the ground isn’t one of being “stuck.” It’s one of “readiness.”

We believe the 85% figure doesn’t represent stagnation; it represents the tension right before a major shift. That feeling of being “held back” is the very catalyst driving firms to seek out smarter, more efficient ways of working. The pain has become acute enough to force action, and the hard realities are impossible to ignore.

The Data Behind the Disruption

The pressure to innovate is no longer theoretical. The numbers driving this change are stark:

• The Waste Mountain: Construction, Demolition, and Excavation (CDE) activities generate 62% of the UK’s total waste, making it the single largest waste stream by a huge margin. (DEFRA)
• The Economic Engine: The construction sector’s output is a cornerstone of the UK economy, forecast to have reached £151 billion in 2024. A productivity lag in an industry this size isn’t a minor inefficiency; it’s a national economic drag. (Construction Products Association Forecast)
• The Tax Hammer: The standard rate for Landfill Tax is now a painful £126.15 per tonne. This isn’t a future warning; it’s the cost of doing business in 2025.

For years, this was absorbed as “the cost of doing business.” That era is over. The “ad hoc” approach is now a direct threat to the bottom line.

From ‘Ad Hoc’ to AI-Driven

The leaders we speak with are no longer asking if they should digitise their material flows, but how fast they can do it. They see the multi-billion-pound opportunity hidden in what was once written off as ‘waste’.

The old way is a project manager spending hours manually scanning site reports and treating surplus soil as a problem to be disposed of.

The Nexus ReGen way is different. It’s a fundamental shift in mindset, powered by technology:

1. AI-driven insight replaces the paper chase. Instead of manually digging through documents, our platform ingests your site reports and instantly understands your material needs and surpluses. It finds the signal in the noise.
2. Automated opportunity turns waste into a resource. Our system doesn’t wait to be asked. It proactively finds new homes for your surplus materials on sites that need them.
3. An entire ecosystem replaces isolated phone calls. We connect buyers, sellers, and supply chain users in a single, efficient marketplace, streamlining the logistics that transform waste into a valuable asset.

This is what happens when you stop digitising old habits and start building entirely new, profitable, and sustainable workflows. Profit and planet aren’t in conflict; they are two sides of the same, smarter-working coin.

The Future is Now