Building & Construction Sector “Bleak, Not Terminal”

• 
• 14th August 2008
• Materials Handling
 

 

Neil Edwards, Chief Executive of trade association and market intelligence provider Builders' Conference, believes that the current outlook across the construction sector is bleak and that further cost-cutting and redundancies are inevitable.

New statistics from trade association and market intelligence provider Builders' Conference highlight a sharp decline in tenders and workload in the house building and other key construction market sectors.   "According to our latest figures, the number of projects currently being tendered for in the first six months of 2008 is 10 percent down by number and 25 percent down in value on the same period in 2007," says Chief Executive Neil Edwards.   "We have also seen a number of companies being forced to refocus their attention on less profitable but more reliable sectors such as education and health."    Edwards further believes that the current downturn will last till "at least January 2009".   "Our figures indicate that the entire building and construction sector is unlikely to see any upturn this side of the New Year," he adds.   "Further cost cuts and job losses are inevitable, unfortunately."

Correction, Not Collapse

Yet, while he is concerned at the short-term future for the construction sector in general and The Builders' Conference members in particular, Edwards says he believes the current crisis to be a "correction rather than a collapse" and that most companies will retract rather than shut-down.   According to The Builders' Conference figures, the non-housing elements of the construction sector have remained static for the past six months and, while Edwards describes the downturn in the housing market as "spectacular", he also believes that the true culprit lies outside the construction and building business.   "The present situation in the construction and building sector is almost entirely attributable to the crisis in the banking sector, and this has had a direct impact upon the house building market," he asserts.   "But, the fact remains that we still have a housing shortage and, as of the end of July, we will be in the countdown to hosting the London 2012 Olympics, and that is just one of many major projects that simply won't wait.   It is our belief that, in the short term at least, building and construction companies will just have to ride out the storm."

 info@buildersconf.co.uk