Sector special: Circular nature of construction means companies must contribute tax fairly

In this series for the Fair Tax Foundation, our accredited organisations tell us how the Fair Tax Mark has helped open opportunities or overcome challenges specific to their sector. Here, Lawsons Group Finance Director Chris Harrison says a sector supported by taxes should be replenishing those coffers fairly.

Paying tax fairly helps builders merchants contribute to public funds that ultimately benefit the sector.

Some 80-85% of the built environment in the UK is supplied by Britain’s builders’ merchants, according to The Builders Merchant Building Index. Merchants and their suppliers are crucial to construction, which each year contributes more than £40bn to the UK economy.

For Fair Tax Mark builders merchants Lawsons Group, it is the circulatory relationship between public services and this industry that makes paying corporate income tax fairly so important.

“The circular nature of the construction sector, insofar as UK taxation pays for roads, transport and utilities as well as public buildings, housing, schools and hospitals means that the taxes paid by the British public fund the projects the industry builds,” said Chris Harrison, Group Finance Director at Lawsons.

A meaningful share of UK construction spending is ultimately taxpayer-funded – up to 40% some estimates using ONS data suggest. This is either directly through government projects or indirectly through subsidies, grants and regulated infrastructure investment.

“Lawsons strongly advocate that only companies that transparently contribute to the British economy through the fair and timely payment of taxes should be allowed to profit from government-funded projects, whether involved in the supply of materials or the actual construction,” Harrison added.

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In March 2025, Lawsons Group were the first builders merchant to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark, signalling they had reached the gold standard of responsible tax conduct. They joined building materials suppliers Marshalls, Eurocell and Epwin Group along with businesses in the wider construction sector such as Gleeson and Mace.

For the construction sector more broadly, having the Fair Tax Mark can help demonstrate a commitment to sustainability by contributing to the communities in which they operate. But, having every actor in the circle paying tax responsibly is key.

“Lawsons are putting responsible tax on the agenda for a whole new section in this supply chain,” said Jaime Boswell, Head of Accreditation at the Fair Tax Foundation.

“This is powerful because it forms a community end to end in which business can be done with those demonstrating fair tax principles.”