February saw the UK’s construction industry experience the fastest expansion in a year. Sadly, March’s figures couldn’t be more different.
Emergency public health measures put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus led to stoppages on sites all over the UK and now the latest results from the IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Total Activity Index signal the steepest fall in construction output since the global financial crisis.
The impact is being felt in all three broad categories of construction work; house building, commercial and civil engineering (infrastructure) sectors and employment also dropped at the fastest pace since September 2010 with business expectations also taking a hit having fallen to their weakest since October 2008.
For most the latest figures will be unsurprising but as we all gradually restart on site in May it is predicted that productivity will still be down by approximately 30 – 50% as a result of new social distancing regulations and supply chain restrictions impacting capacity and costs and of course many companies are very tentative about starting new projects given the ongoing uncertainty.
There are as always rays of light as the UK has a number of significant civil engineering infrastructure projects on the go and more are planned.
We currently have a range of excellent opportunities and are particularly keen to recruit the following disciplines for a key project straddling the border of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk:
- General Labourers with a CSCS Card
- Traffic Marshals with a CSCS Card
- Escort Drivers (British or EU driving licences)
- Handypersons
- Forklift Drivers
- NVQ Level 3 SPV
So, if you have the skills needed and want to be part of one of the major construction projects taking part in the UK, call 0845 556 2000 or email info@f-mead.com