Partner Article

Kick-start needed for construction firms

Construction output is down 9.5% from last year, as figures from ONS report a dip in the sector. This is nearly a 4% decrease in UK construction work compared with the same quarter in 2011.

Hopes of new business for building companies have also been dashed in the last 3 months as work for repairs and maintenance fell by 12.8% like for like.

Additional bank holidays for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee have taken the blame for these figures from ONS today, as well as the extreme weather and rainfall that Britain has experienced in the last few weeks.

Decline in 8 out of 9 construction sectors gives an unpromising outlook, with reports showing that new infrastructure took the hardest blow.

Mark Farrar, Chief Executive of Sector Skills Council, CITB-ConstructionSkills, said: “The new ONS construction output figures show a continuing trend for the construction industry – times are tough and there is no sign of a change in fortunes.

“One of the most frustrating things about today’s announcement is the slump in the volume of repair and maintenance (R&M) work. With 26 million energy inefficient homes in the UK, the retro-fitting of green technology to improve environmental performance is a huge opportunity to provide an immediate financial injection to the industry – but this opportunity remains untapped.

“Today we are calling on government to take swift action to support the industry and to invest in construction as a route out of recession. Each £1 invested in the sector returns £2.84 to the wider economy, so it has the ability to transform the financial fortunes of the whole country.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .