Charting the C
With the recovery in construction gathering pace, a detailed first-time survey of M&E consultants and contractors will help to reveal the sector’s stellar performers, writes Ewen Rose
ommercial building activity reached its highest level since 2007 in December, according to the Markit survey for the
Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply purchasing managers index (PMI). It also revealed that numbers employed in the industry have been rising steadily for the previous seven months. ‘The improving UK economic outlook
is helping boost private sector spending patterns, meaning that the construction recovery has started to broaden out from housing demand and infrastructure projects to include strong growth in commercial building work,’ says Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit. But how deep-rooted is this recovery?
And what does it mean for the building services engineering sector in particular? A detailed market research exercise launched by CIBSE Journal hopes to answer these questions as well as provide the most in-depth profi le of the sector so far. .
Market recovery The largest consultancies and M&E contractors are being asked to provide
8 CIBSE Journal
details of their turnover; profi t; staff numbers and workload in the fi rst detailed data-gathering exercise of its kind aimed at the building services sector. [The table shows the fi rms with the largest number of CIBSE members]. Economic forecaster and construction research specialist Hewes and Associates aims to compile an M&E league table from the information, which will give clues as to how the industry is responding to market recovery. ‘This sector is poorly served in terms
of data and surveys,’ says Hewes and Associates founder Martin Hewes. ‘As a result it has suffered from a relatively low profi le and some confusion about what it actually has to offer.’ Hewes says clients are often unclear
about what M&E fi rms can do and fi nd it hard to put an accurate value on the activities of engineers in this arena. Firms will receive a questionnaire asking
them to disclose information about their turnover; operating profi t; employees – full- time and part-time as well as chartered and non-chartered. The survey will also drill down into the work carried out by engineering staff
and establish how many apprentices and graduates are being employed, along with the nature of the work they carry out. It will also look at overseas staff and prospects for international contracts. Firms who feature in the rankings
will benefi t from increased profi le and positive PR – particularly as this data will be supplied to clients. Hewes says his previous experience shows fi rms are enthusiastic about being featured because it increases their visibility and helps them to compare their performance against their peers. ‘We realise some companies will be
nervous about revealing too much detail about their operations, but there is a wider benefi t here – both to individual fi rms and the sector as a whole.’ The data will help with analysis of how companies have dealt with the recession and their strategies for rebuilding growth. Payment issues, including rising and falling fees, and developments like zero hour contracts will come under the microscope.
The bigger picture The survey will drill into the data in a number of ways so businesses will be ranked by turnover and profi t, but also by other measures such as staff numbers and sales per staff. ‘It is important to carry out this exercise
now because, although there is defi nitely growth in the market, there are serious questions about how sustainable it is,’ says
www.cibsejournal.com
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