Do you have a spring in your step?

This article was produced by Olswang LLP, which joined with CMS on 1 May 2017.

As many of us begin a new financial year, I’m beginning to wonder what the next 12 months will hold for all of us in the construction industry. The recent news that theUKis back in recession hasn’t done much to boost the industry’s collective confidence which, if you believe the reports in the press, seems low. As well as the dramatic political upheaval across Europe in the last week, EU data has just referred to a ‘dramatic collapse’ in the construction industry, particularly inItalyand Mervyn King is worrying about inflation being too high (with a weak construction sector being cited as a contributing factor).

However, this picture seems to be complicated by the fact that there is also some fairly optimistic data out there that isn’t being lauded in the press and which may contradict the pessimists’ view that the construction industry will be in the doldrums until at least 2014.

PWC have recently reported that output in the construction sector in 2011 actually grew between 4 and 5% in comparison to 2010, with the infrastructure sector being the most successful area (with 16% growth). This report went on to bemoan the state of the construction industry in the near future, however in Constructive’s opinion these figures speak for themselves.

PWC’s figures are corroborated by the fact that JCB has recently reported record growth, with overall sales increasing by almost 40% (with trade picking up in the UK, Germany, France and Scandinavia-all of which are supposed to be in a slump). The TUC has also reported that there were 17,000 more jobs in the construction industry in Q4 of 2011 than the same quarter in 2010.

So, whilst Constructive acknowledges that there are many serious, external pressures inhibiting our industry at present, we consider that more credit should be given to the areas of the construction industry that are defying the doom and gloom. So, as it’s May, Constructive is going to have a spring in its step. For now.