Green shoots showing for Construction

The latest IHS Markit/CIPS Construction PMI figures have been released, showing a resurgence to growth for the industry.

With ‘The Beast from the East’ causing wide-spread disruption in March, leading to a dip in activity, April has seen the sector recover to with activity rising at the fastest pace for five months.

April has recorded a figure of 52.5, a sharp rise from the 20-month low seen in March at 47.0, and leads to a more confident atmosphere for the rest of 2018, with the reading the highest since November 2017.

House building is expanding at the strongest rate, with residential work reaching a high not seen since May 2017, while new orders have also increase slightly.

However, there were signs that underlying demand across the construction sector remained subdued, with total new work rising only marginally in April. The increase in new business was the first recorded by the survey so far in 2018.

Peter Vinden, Managing Director of the Vinden Partnership said: “Spring is showing green shoots of recovery for the construction industry. The change is weather has led to more starts on site as the snow cleared and the industry is enjoying April showers and sunshine.

“House building is leading the way in recovery, supported by robust government commitments; growth in April has been amongst the strongest seen over the past two-and-a-half years.

“While the recovery is fledgling, worries continue over economic uncertainty and Brexit holding back construction growth. New projects is not as strong as anticipated and this could be down to clients playing the waiting game on political outcomes.”