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Figures announced today in the Federation of Master Builders' (FMB) State of Trade survey for the first quarter of 2003 indicate that the recent conflict in Iraq has had little or no effect on business for the UK's small and medium sized building firms, with workloads increasing and strong expectations of continued improvements in both workload and employment in the second quarter and beyond. However, ongoing problems with finding both directly employed and sub-contract labour remains a major problem.
Despite fears about a possible dip in consumer confidence as a result of the Iraqi conflict, 41% of the builders surveyed reported an increase in workload in the first three months of 2003. This figure is some 10% ahead of predictions for the period in the previous quarter's survey. The domestic repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) of private housing continues to be the main driver of growth, with a third of all builders reporting growth in that sector and a further 51% seeing previous work levels maintained in the first quarter of 2003. RMI work on social housing and the repair and maintenance of non-residential buildings for both private and public sector clients outperformed the expectations expressed in the previous survey.
Looking forward, 78% of builders expect future workloads to grow or remain constant in the second quarter of 2003, with the greatest increases expected in domestic new build and RMI. Just under a quarter of builders expect to see growth in the RMI work of social housing. In the non-residential building sectors, private repair and maintenance work is predicted to be the most lucrative area, with almost a quarter of builders expecting positive change.
Commenting on the figures, FMB director general Ian Davis said:
"It appears that consumer confidence remains healthy, despite the situation in Iraq and the much-publicised fears of a slowdown in the property market. Builders tend to be cautious in predicting their future workload, so the fact that they are forecasting growth over the next six months is a good indicator of a buoyant market."
Just over a quarter of builders surveyed reported an increase in the size of their workforce, with a little under a third predicting future employment growth in the second quarter. However, finding suitable labour to employ directly or as sub-contractors continues to be a major issue facing builders in the UK. This problem worsened in the first quarter. Overall 69% of builders reported difficulties in sourcing labour, up 4% on the last three months of 2002, with certain trades causing particular headaches. 29% of respondents had trouble finding plumbers, heating and ventilation engineers, a worsening of 10%, with 30% reporting difficulties finding bricklayers, 28% plasterers and 27% carpenters, all up on the previous survey.
First posted: 28 April 2003. Last modified: 8 May 2003.
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