Confidence in construction highlighted by ONS figures

The Vinden Partnership react to latest construction output figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released construction output figures for the second quarter of 2015 and the month of June. Both of these are positive for the construction industry.

In the month of June, output was up by 0.9% when compared to May, and the figure was even better when set against that of June 2014. Indeed, construction output in June 2015 was 2.6% higher than that of the previous June.

A big reason for this is a return to growth of all new housing, with all new work also showing a 1.6% increase.

When looking at the quarterly figures, output for Q2 (April to June) was 0.2% higher than Q1 (January to March).

This rise was helped by a 1% increase in new work, within which saw a 3.9% boost in private new housing, infrastructure go up by 0.5% and public other new work increase by 1.2%.

It all means that the year-on-year quarterly figure is up by 2.4% when compared with Q2 2014.

And Peter Vinden, Managing Director of the Vinden Partnership, says the latest figures show the “increasing confidence” in the robust nature of the industry.

It follows the Company’s stance last month when there was a slight monthly decrease in the figure, when the significant steps made were highlighted.

For the latest figures, Peter believes the industry can look forward with confidence.

He said: “Today’s figures are a great boost to the industry, with the monthly and quarterly numbers all pointing to a robust construction sector in the country.

“Any lingering uncertainty after the General Election now seems to be firmly in the past and the size of the year-on-year figures surely suggests increasing confidence within the industry.”

Martin Bennett, a Regional Director at the Vinden Partnership, echoed the thoughts of Peter but also sounded a note of caution, as he believes the industry still needs to deal with issues such as skills shortages.

“We are greatly encouraged by construction output and last month’s slight decrease now looks like the blip we thought it was.

“There is much to be excited about in the construction industry, with all new work performing well but we urge the industry to guard against complacency because as a whole, we still have challenges ahead.

“In particular, I would like to see the issues associated with skills shortages tackled so that rising prices do not become a long term problem that could act as a millstone around the neck of many companies.”

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