Nicky Rogers (Editorial)
Nicky Rogers - Master Builder Editor
Looking for good news
We know the UK economy is up to its neck in debt and the new coalition Government has pledged to address the debt by scaling back on public expenditure and increasing taxation. Most of the deficit will be met by cutting back on spending, meaning that there is going to be a lot less money to go round over the next few years and that will inevitably mean that public sector clients will scale back on their building plans.
As Richard Diment, the FMB Director General says in his column this month, for many FMB members this work is a core part of their business but the majority of members work either for domestic clients or private sector businesses.
The FMB feels that the Government’s legislative programme is the right approach to help small businesses struggling to survive in the current economic climate, and it represents a promising start which should help get the UK back on its feet and on the road to economic recovery.
What will undoubtedly help small construction businesses to survive and thrive is the Government’s commitment to improving the energy efficiency of the existing UK housing stock. This alone could produce a market worth up to £6.5bn a year.
Encouragingly, the latest Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) and Markit Purchasing Managers Index issued a construction activity figure of 58.5 for May (anything over 50 suggests growth). That indicates the strongest growth since September 2007. But CIPS chief executive David Noble said: “It‘s a double edged sword for the UK construction sector at the moment. The recovery is so fragile that it will be extremely vulnerable to the impending public sector cuts and it is unclear whether the recovery is robust enough to cope with such knock backs.
On the plus side, the Government has reallocated £150 million to fund 50,000 apprenticeship places for SMEs, going beyond the 20,000 previously announced. Mark Farrah, Chief Executive at ConstructionSkills, said: “We are pleased that the Government has prioritised the funding of apprenticeship places to improve Britain’s growth and ensure people are given the best opportunity to access skills and training." He also affirmed that: “It will be a key task of the Government to ensure public sector investment in key construction-based projects is sustained until the private sector picks up.”
So if you look hard enough, there are snippets of good news now, and each member will have a different view and experience of work and the economy. What every member can be assured of, is that the FMB will never stint in its efforts to promote and protect its members and provide you with the information and services you need to prosper.
I thought I was having a bad day just after the recent Bank Holiday when it seemed that everything I touched either fell over or broke (or both). I don’t know why, but everyone I rang that day seemed to be in the same boat, but one member took the biscuit, he said: "When I got to work this morning, I had three call in sick - including the lorry driver. One site manager turned up feeling ill and went back home. We were called out to a local café and struggled to resolve the drainage problem there and then just got started on the replacement of two roof lanterns and the heavens opened and we had to abandon that job! How does that compare?” He wins, hands down...and I started to feel better.
If you have a story that would interest other FMB members please contact the editor.
