UK: The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has renewed its calls for the Government to step up its efforts to revitalise the construction industry.
The level of new work in construction fell to its lowest level since 1980 in the second quarter of 2012, rather than staying flat as government figures had previously reported. A correction to the ONS new orders figures showed they fell by 8.5 per cent between Q1 and Q2, rather than growing by 0.2 per cent, as had been stated earlier this month.
The updated figures also found that new work fell 0.3 per cent year on year rather than growing 11.1 per cent as originally stated.
Julia Evans, chief executive of the NFB said: “It is time now for the Government to take serious action to help SMEs in the construction industry to play their part in economic recovery. The Government has acknowledged that construction is the backbone of the economy and a key driver in helping the country out of this crisis. This can be seen through their announcement of £40 billion in the UK Guarantees scheme for infrastructure, and £10 billion into housing, and we look forward to seeing this come to fruition. However, this investment must be available to businesses of all sizes, including SMEs, which make up over 90 per cent of the construction industry.”
