2nd Quarter 2002 - Enquiries At 38% the proportion of all respondents reporting a rise in enquiries about future work is slightly lower than in the first quarter survey, whilst that indicating a fall is a little higher, but the weighted percentage balance of 'higher' and 'lower' replies is still clearly positive at +14. Results are broadly similar for the builders and the specialist contractors taking part in the second quarter survey.
Table 5 - Enquiries in the Last Quarter, by Region   2001 2002 Second Quarter 2002   Weighted % balance Wtd % bal Weighted Percentage   Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Higher Same Lower Balance North East +4 +9 +18 -13 40 50 10 +30 Yorks & Humber +26 +5 -13 +5 41 45 14 +27 East Midlands -5 +18 -65 +41 31 45 24 +7 Eastern +8 +40 -6 +39 42 33 25 +17 London +13 +12 +12 +8 32 46 22 +10 South East +30 +18 -5 +25 38 31 31 +7 South West +3 +24 +8 +33 44 37 19 +25 West Midlands +46 +10 -25 +12 21 33 46 -25 North West +37 +25 +20 +25 37 58 5 +32 Wales +40 +13 +44 +44 56 23 21 +35 Scotland +63 +86 -25 +23 31 22 47 -16 Northern Ireland +71 +26 -7 30 57 13 +17 All builders +21 +21 +3 +21 38 39 23 +15 All specialists +22 +19 -17 +22 38 35 27 +11 UK +22 +21 -1 +22 38 38 24 +14
By region the strongest results are, as shown in Table 5, those for Wales and for both the North East and North West of England. In the last of these, which was shown earlier as having the poorest result for the change in workload in the past quarter, only 5% say they received fewer enquiries about possible future work. At the other extreme there are negative balances of 'higher' and 'lower' replies in both the West Midlands of England and Scotland, and there are only single-figure positive balances in East Midlands and South East of England. In both the West Midlands and Scotland almost half of all respondents report fewer enquiries.
Table 6 - Enquiries in the Last Quarter, by Type of Work   2001 2002 Second Quarter 2002   Weighted % balance Wtd % bal Weighted Percentage   Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Higher Same Lower Balance Housing:                 Private new +13 +9 -7 +12 24 52 24 0 Private RM&I +17 +22 -3 +21 35 51 14 +21 Social new -11 -13 -15 -3 8 60 32 -24 Social RM&I +13 +8 -1 +2 17 61 22 -5 Non-Residential:                 Public new build -1 +2 -9 +8 29 44 27 +2 Public R&M +8 -8 -7 0 21 48 31 -10 Industrial +8 +5 -21 -3 24 56 20 +4 Commercial +2 +15 -8 +7 31 47 22 +9 Private R&M +2 +8 -18 +5 34 39 27 +7
There is quite a wide spread of results for different types of work. More than a third of all respondents report more enquiries about possible private housing RM&I jobs, whilst little more than one in ten say they have received fewer calls about this type of work. The 'higher' proportion is also around a third for both repair and maintenance of non-residential buildings for private sector clients, and new build of and improvements to commercial buildings, but in these segments the 'lower' figures are higher than they are for private housing RM&I, and the balances are lower. By comparison with positive results for all types of work for private sector clients except for private housing new build, the balances of 'higher' and 'lower' replies are negative for enquiries about three of the four types of work for public sector clients. Further Information For further information, please contact: Federation of Master Builders Gordon Fisher House 14-15 Great James Street Holborn London WC1N 3DP Tel: 020 7242 7583 Fax: 020 7404 0296 First posted: 14 August 2002. Last modified: 15 August 2002.