425 members took part in the Federation of Master Builders first quarter 2002 state of trade survey. Their aggregate turnover is estimated at around £350 million a year, and their current total workforce is around 7,250. The ratio of directly employed labour, including working proprietors, to sub-contracted labour is this time only 1.25:1. This is despite a relatively higher level of participation by medium-sized firms, with annual turnover in excess of £1 million, than in any survey in the past year. Previously this has tended to raise the direct:indirect employment ratio.
Readers are reminded that from the first quarter 2001 the survey sample has included FMB members in Scotland and Northern Ireland. As noted previously, the initial response from those two countries was somewhat disappointing, so their samples have been increased for 2002. Judging by the number of questionnaires rerturned this time, there are good prospects that the response from Scotland may have been established at a satisfactory level, but that from Northern Ireland is still somewhat disappointing, and results for the Province should be treated with caution.
As this is the fifth survey including Scotland and Northern Ireland, which means that results this time may be compared with those from a year earlier on the same basis, the former series of results for all firms operating in England and Wales is now discontinued.
Readers are reminded that, as has been the case since the start of 1999, individual replies are weighted by size of firm, but there is still not a sufficient run of results on this basis to work out how to adjust for normal seasonal variations in building activity. However, where changes from one survey to another appear to be attributable to such variations, this is stated in the commentary.
Since the third quarter of 2000 the regional analysis of results has been based on standard regions rather than FMB regions. Firms are asked to indicate in which standard region they principally operate. This facilitates comparison of results with the 'official' construction statistics from the Department of Trade and Industry.
First posted: 25 June 2002. Last modified: 25 June 2002.
