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North West top for medical and health construction

The North West accounted for nearly two thirds of the total value of medical and health construction contracts in the UK in April, according to a research by Barbour ABI.

The value of medical and health construction contracts in the region totalled more than £98 million in April, accounting for 64.8 per cent of the overall contracts awarded for the sector UK-wide - an increase of 7.9 per cent on the same month last year.

These latest figures, taken from Barbour ABI’s Economic & Construction Market Review, make interesting reading for the health construction sector in the UK.

The value of projects in April, totalling £151 million based on a three-month rolling average, is up 38.8 per cent on April 2013, but the overall figures for Q1 2014 are still some 2.7 per cent lower than those for the same period in 2013.

Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, commented: “The North West has proved fertile territory for new health and medical construction contracts, with a number of high-value projects in the pipeline, including a new £250 million proton beam therapy facility at the Christie Hospital, Greater Manchester.

“In the future, we can expect to see smaller contracts appearing in the region, such as the redevelopment of the former Whittaker House care home in Bury, Greater Manchester, into modern, higher complex care accommodation.

“However, it is clear that, despite regional good news, the sector nationally is experiencing a modest long-term decline. Public hospitals are the dominant type of contract within the sector, accounting for 77 per cent of contract values in April, which is a 21 per cent increase year-on-year, but the next largest category – surgeries and medical centres – dropped 12 per cent from April 2013.”

The Economic & Construction Market Review is a monthly report designed to give valuable, current insight into UK construction industry performance. It is compiled from Barbour ABI’s records of construction data for every UK planning application, and key indicators, such as the Office for National Statistics’ Construction New Orders data.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .