More than two-thirds of construction directors believe turnover will return to pre-recession levels by end of 2015, according to an optimistic survey commissioned by weekly magazine Construction News.
The magazine has started a new quarterly “barometer” survey which measures the views of the chief executives, chairmen and senior directors of the CN 100 index of the UK’s largest contractors.
The inaugural results reveal a strong level of optimism, tempered by fears of rising costs and a suspicion that private sector clients put low bid costs ahead of innovation, skills or project experience when awarding work.
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The single biggest concern, however, is a lack of skilled staff, identified by almost 80% of respondents. Fears over an impending skills crisis were highlighted by the CITB earlier this month when it warned of a skills “time bomb” in construction, as 400,000 people retire in the next 10 years.
The survey is designed to track sentiment among leading firms as the industry makes progress towards growth and recovery. Other key findings in the survey include:
- 52% and 60% of respondents cited fears over rising material prices and labour costs respectively, as among their biggest concerns for the coming year.
- 77% said private clients put “significant” weight on low bid costs.
- 68% said that government’s post-2015 plans for infrastructure spending would provide a “significant boost” for the industry.
- On the other hand, 57% think a Labour government would spend more on infrastructure than the coalition government, and 96% believe the current government needed to do more to boost construction growth.
- Almost a third of construction chiefs do not back the business case for High Speed 2 and 28% feel it would not benefit them.
- Industry leaders see the greatest business opportunities over the next year in house-building, rail and education – each selected by 70% of respondents.
