UK construction activity slows
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August 3, 2017
Data gathered by the Builders’ Conference has indicated a downturn in UK construction activity ahead with a slowdown in new contracts being signed.
The Builders’ Conference recorded just 351 new contract awards with a combined value of just £2.24bn. That is the lowest monthly figure since December 2012 and well below the usual norm of around £4bn a month.
Forward tenders – a key indicator of likely workloads four or five months ahead – remain down as well.
However, with £6.6bn of HS2 contracts officially signed on 1st August 2017, BCLive data is due to spike to a rare high this month.
Kier won the most new business in July, topping the Builders’ Conference BCLive league table for the month, securing four new projects with a combined value of £145.9m. The largest of these is a £75m private hospital in Manchester for Nuffield Health.
Multiplex took second spot with a single contract award worth £115m for a mixed use development at London’s Royal Albert Dock for ABP.
And in third place went to Shropshire-based RGB, which secured five new contracts worth a combined £108m, including a £32m student accommodation scheme in Portsmouth.
