Dale Harper-Jones, Founder, Temp Solutions and Managing Director, AT Jones & Son (ATJ), discusses his platform designed to streamline labour sourcing, compliance, and attendance tracking for specialist contractors, built to boost efficiency and transparency.

Over the past 35 years in the UK specialist contracting sector, I have witnessed firsthand the operational headaches businesses face when sourcing, managing, and deploying labour. At ATJ, we are no strangers to the pressures of delivering complex fit-out projects on time, within budget, and to the highest safety and quality standards.
Our projects often involve multiple trades, short mobilisation times, and a large contingent workforce. In such an environment, efficiency is paramount. Yet, we found ourselves hampered by fragmented systems, inconsistent record-keeping, and limited visibility into who was on site, when, and with what credentials.
It was not for lack of effort. Like many in our industry, we invested in various tools and platforms, standalone time and attendance systems, spreadsheets for operative records, and ad hoc messaging for urgent requirements. However, none of these solutions provided the integration, real-time data, or operational clarity that modern project delivery demands.
That gap between what we needed and what the market offered was the genesis of Temp.

From internal tool to industry platform
Initially, Temp was never intended to be a commercial product. I approached Rupert Howell, an experienced digital construction and supply chain solutions expert and founder of Provolve, to build a bespoke in-house system for ATJ. The brief was simple, streamline labour sourcing, onboarding and compliance checks, into one seamless process.
What Rupert delivered exceeded expectations. The prototype not only solved our internal inefficiencies but also revealed a much bigger opportunity: these challenges were not unique to ATJ. Specialist contractors across the UK in groundworks, frame contractors, joinery, M&E, and beyond were wrestling with the same problems.
It became clear we had laid the foundations for something with industry-wide potential. Together, Rupert and I set about refining the platform into what is now Temp, an end-to-end workforce management solution, purpose-built for specialist contractors.

Temp’s core strength lies in its integration of three traditionally separate functions:
1. Resource matching: Specialist contractors can post project requirements, and Temp’s intelligent matching engine connects them with verified operatives who meet the criteria.
2. Compliance management: All operative credentials, including CSCS cards, right-to-work documents, qualifications, and insurance, are securely stored, verified, and easily retrievable.
3. Time and attendance: Real-time visibility of who is on site, where, and when, within designated geofences, supporting productivity monitoring, commercial controls, and safety oversight, the platform gives the user clear visibility of who is on site and who is not, a powerful on demand solution in emergency situations.
These features are complemented by in-app communications, document sharing, and a growing data analytics capability that can be leveraged for planning, forecasting, and even social value reporting.

The pivot that changed everything
Our original value proposition centered on connecting contractors with operatives, essentially a curated marketplace for skilled labour. However, during development, we identified an opportunity to integrate geofencing for time-and-attendance whilst resources are on the project.
This pivot transformed Temp from a sourcing tool into a live operational platform. The geofence function became the “hook” for specialist contractors as it solved an immediate need for accurate, compliant site records and eliminated reliance on third-party systems.
The impact on adoption was immediate. Subcontractors saw value not just in resourcing but in daily site management, and crucially they began actively encouraging operatives to sign up, solving the classic “network effect” challenge of two-sided platforms.

Why Temp matters for specialist contractors
• Verified labour, fast: Post roles and get matched with skilled, certified operatives.
• Real-time site visibility: Track attendance with geolocation, no chasing or paper timesheets.
• Compliance handled: Digital wallets for CSCS, Right to Work, expiring certs, training records.
• Broadcast alerts: Instantly send H&S, quality, or best practice updates across site or company.
• Emergency ready: Each operative has ICE contacts stored in-app.
• Smarter planning: Workers set status to working or available for work, so you know who’s free.
• One dashboard, all data: Live, centralised view across projects, exportable anytime.
• Enterprise ready: Store and sign inductions, daily briefings, and agreements for effortless auditing.

In Addition to this you can have access to:
• AI-verified competence checks through digital worker packs: This allows you to automatically assess, record and evidence each operative’s Skills, Knowledge, Experience, and Behaviours (SKEB). Confirms operatives have genuinely understood the content they’ve signed. Creates an auditable record of individual competence. Feeds directly into the “Golden Thread” required under the Building Safety Act.

Industry context and timing
The launch of Temp comes at a pivotal moment for UK construction. According to the Construction Skills Network, the industry will need over 250,000 additional workers by 2028, with specialist trades among the most in demand. Labour shortages, rising project complexity, and heightened compliance requirements create fertile ground for digital solutions that improve efficiency and workforce utilisation.
In parallel, Tier 1 contractors are placing greater emphasis on operative competency, social value, wellbeing, and data transparency. All these areas where Temp’s features align directly with client priorities.

From ATJ to the wider market
For ATJ, Temp has already replaced our legacy time and attendance system, bringing operational visibility we have never had before. We can see, in real time, who is on each site, cross check their credentials, and identify gaps before they cause delays.
But the bigger story is how these benefits translate to the wider specialist contracting community. Early adopters outside ATJ have echoed similar results.

Challenges along the way
Bringing Temp to market has not been without its challenges. Integrating multiple data sources while ensuring GDPR compliance required significant development work. Designing a user experience that caters to both tech-savvy managers and operatives with limited digital exposure was another delicate balancing act. Our biggest challenge, however, was listening to early customers’ pain points and then prioritising the needs of the many to maximise the platform’s usefulness while removing rarely used, overly complex features.
The platform does not track operatives or collect location data about their movements. GPS coordinates are only accessed when the device moves, and all geofence processing happens locally. We only know whether an operative is inside or outside a geofence. This approach addresses both GDPR and battery life concerns common in other geofenced T&A systems. Extensive live testing has shown minimal impact on daily phone use. By prioritising transparency, performance, and fairness, Temp eliminates the usual barriers to digital adoption, giving operatives confidence that the system supports — not monitors — them.
Some subcontractors worry that adding their operatives to Temp will expose them to posts from other contractors. The reality? Operatives are already seeing these opportunities every day on Facebook groups, WhatsApp chats, and other social platforms.
In truth, no one “owns” a contingent operative, the industry draws from the same shared pool of talent. The tradeoff is clear: by onboarding operatives, subcontractors gain far wider visibility of available workers across the network, making it easier to resource projects quickly and reliably. This moves Temp from being just a workforce management tool to becoming a regulatory compliance enabler — bridging the Building Safety Act, HMRC IR35, and modern subcontracting realities.

Looking ahead
The roadmap for Temp includes:
• More API integrations.
• Advanced analytics for workforce planning and social value reporting.
• Expansion into additional contingent labour industries such as facilities management, hospitality, and healthcare.
Our commercial model remains deliberately competitive, at around a third of the cost of comparable solutions, and we will continue to prioritise usability and measurable return on investment for our customers.

Conclusion
Temp began life as an internal solution to a problem that every specialist contractor knows all too well. It addresses the full lifecycle of workforce management, from sourcing to compliance to real time tracking, offering a single platform capable of transforming operational efficiency.
For the FIS community, Temp represents more than just software. It is a tool designed by industry people, for industry people. It is grounded in decades of lived experience, refined through real world testing, and built with the needs of specialist contractors at its core.
As we prepare for our full market launch in September 2025, we invite fellow subcontractors to explore Temp, challenge it, and help shape its evolution. Together, we can set a new standard for workforce management in the specialist contracting sector.

www.tempsolutions.io