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Building Trade Associations and Institutes
News Release from: Federation of Master Builders (FMB)
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 July 2006
Building industry downturn for another
quarter
Workload and employment in the building industry during the second quarter of 2006 showed a decline for the third quarter in succession, according to the Federation of Master Builders.
Workload and employment in the building industry during the second quarter of 2006 showed a decline for the third quarter in succession, according to the Federation of Master Builders' latest State of Trade Survey This is the first time since 1999 that the spring quarter, usually a period of seasonal increases, has shown a decline
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 27 Jun 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Nationally, for April-June 2006 more than a third of builders (35%) experienced a reduction in workload while only 29% experienced an upturn, much the same proportion as for the first quarter of the year.
However, the regional breakdown indicates winners and losers across the country.
In Yorkshire and Humberside 68% of small and medium-sized firms experienced lower workloads, with 53% in the West Midlands and 48% in the East Midlands being similarly affected.
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FMB State of Trade Survey
The Federation of Master Builders' (FMB) State of Trade survey for the third quarter of 2003 shows builders workloads continue to rise.
However Northern Ireland bucked the trend with 90% experiencing higher or static levels of demand, followed by the North West and North East each with 89%.
Commenting on the latest survey findings FMB director general, Ian Davis said: "At first glance, these figures suggest a continuation of the sluggish market conditions we have seen since this time last year.
However, it is not uniform across the UK and some regions have been doing much better than the average.
Looking ahead, there are hopeful signs, with some quite clear expectations that total workload will rise in the second half of the year." The FMB report shows an overall downturn in all building work in Q2 except new build private housing, a similar pattern to the previous quarter.
The weakest results by type of work were for repair, maintenance and improvement (RMandI) of social housing and non-residential buildings for public sector clients.
In both sectors members experiencing lower workloads outnumbered those with higher workloads by more than 3:1.
Looking forward to the next quarter, 35% of those questioned expect workloads to increase while only 24% expect them to decline.
Overall there is an expectation that total workload will rise in the third quarter of the year with both private and social housing providing the impetus, but other types of work are likely to continue to decline.
Changes in employment were little different in Q2 from the previous quarter with 20% reporting higher levels of employment and 22% lower.
Looking forward, 92% of respondents expected to maintain or increase their workforce in Q3, with the biggest increases forecast for London, where 38% expected to employ more workers, Scotland (25%) and the North West (24%).
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