As we edge closer and closer to the date for leaving the European Union, it seems that a new story breaks about a particular company or industry feeling the strain of uncertainty. And today is no different – although the construction industry was already struggling with the collapse of Carillion last year, Brexit uncertainty has now delayed new building projects causing a contraction for the first time since the Beast from the East halted projects last year.
After that damaging period for the industry and the demise of the large contractor that we documented last year; 10 months of expansion followed which has now been abruptly stopped and pushed backwards during February according to the latest survey from IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.
Brexit uncertainty meant that there was a subdued demand in the commercial building sector with slowed decision-making one of the culprits for this demise – mainly because of Brexit. David Cheetham, the chief market analyst at the financial firm XTB said:
“The fall last March was attributed to unseasonably late snowfall, but this time no such excuses can be rolled out”
This has been the worst monthly performance for the construction sector since September 2017; removing the beast from the east situation from the equation. Tim Moore, economics associate director at IHS Markit; who compiles surveys undertaken by procurement managers in around 150 construction firms in the UK said:
“The UK construction sector moved into decline during February as Brexit anxiety intensified and clients opted to delay decision-making on building projects. Risk aversion in the commercial sub-category has exerted a downward influence on workloads throughout the year so far. This reflects softer business spending on fixed assets such as industrial units, offices and retail space.”
Some companies have also realised that there has been a stockpiling exercise undertaken by manufacturers in an attempt to prepare for Brexit, leading to shortages of transport availability ultimately leaving builders waiting longer for products and materials.
It’s important that the internal systems in use at construction companies are made to work hard for you in times like these. Manually processing spreadsheets and internal bureaucracy can be easily avoided through harnessing bespoke software for the construction industry specifically. By adopting this, your company is much more likely to spend time on the most important aspects to get through these particular issues rather than wasting time on processes that are easily avoidable.
We have worked with large construction businesses in the past such as Renaker build and love to see how we can make bespoke software work for construction companies. To find out more about how we do this, get in touch here.
