Northern Ireland’s small construction firms enjoyed strong growth in the second quarter of 2018 despite their concerns over the impact of major political uncertainty, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Northern Ireland.
Key results from the FMB’s latest State of Trade Survey, which is the only quarterly assessment of the UK-wide SME construction sector, include:
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The main indicator for the performance of Northern Irish construction SMEs (a measure of workloads, enquiries and expected workloads), rose very strongly by 21 percentage points in Q2 2018 to +47%.
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Responses from most Northern Ireland builders (54%) were positive, with only 7% suggesting a decline in current or future workloads;
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More than three quarters of builders expect material prices to continue to rise over the next six months;
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Two-thirds (65%) of construction SMEs are struggling to hire bricklayers and 60% are struggling to hire carpenters.
Gavin McGuire, Director of FMB NI, said: “Our latest research indicates that NI’s building industry is in robust health. Indeed, this is the first time over the past two years that NI builders have seen two consecutive quarters of rising optimism. These latest results are particularly impressive when you consider the challenges facing all builders in the shape of rising material prices and significant labour shortages. Three quarters of small building firms believe that material prices will rise in the next six months and currently, two thirds are having difficulties hiring bricklayers and 60% are struggling to find carpenters and joiners. These shills shortages are pushing up wages and salaries and putting further pressure on construction SMEs in the shape of rising costs.”
McGuire concluded: “The resilience of NI’s building industry is all the more remarkable given the political uncertainties we face. Construction SMEs have very real concerns about the impact of the ongoing political deadlock in Stormont, and the uncertainty around the outcome of Brexit negotiations. Recent research by FMB NI found that three quarters of SME builders in NI believe that if the deadlock in Stormont continues, it will hamper growth. Just imagine what NI’s builders could achieve if we had a working Executive able to take forward major projects and make key decisions about economic development and housing. This would provide much greater confidence for these firms to plan and grow, with enormous long term benefits to NI. Stormont must move forward, and we must have more clarity on Brexit in order to ensure that current growth is sustained.”
