EDINBURGH: Construction industry bosses are still fearful about the sector's prospects for the year ahead, according to a new poll.
A survey by the Scottish Building Federation of 700 firms across Scotland showed 80% of bosses less confident, or no more confident, about the year ahead compared to 2009, despite the Scottish government claim that construction orders were better in Scotland than the rest of the UK.
Michael Levack, chief executive, Scottish Building Federation said: "Recovery in the building sector is likely to be particularly slow."
The survey also asked members about their experience of public procurement and said the majority of smaller construction firms were actively avoiding participation in public tenders because the associated costs were prohibitively high.
The results showed fewer than one in six small building firms had participated in a public tender over the past year. In contrast, three out of four of the largest firms responding to the survey had taken part in at least one public tender in the past 12 months.
The survey also found that those small firms that did take part in public tenders had an average success rate of 71% whereas, on average, the largest firms won one out of every five contracts they tendered for.
