NEWS
Construction output set to fl atline A
fter a weak start to the year following the demise of Carillion in January and adverse weather across the country in February and March, the Construction Products Association’s Spring forecasts anticipate fl at construction output for the whole of 2018.
On a more positive note, forecasts have also predicted an acceleration in growth of 2.7 percent in 2019 and 1.9 percent in 2020.
Infrastructure and private housing remain the two bright spots for UK construction activity. Infrastructure output is forecast to grow 6.4 percent this year and 13.1 percent in 2019 as main civil engineering work commences on large projects such as HS2, the Thames Tideway Tunnel and Hinkley Point C. In private housing, output is forecast to rise fi ve percent, with demand for new build underpinned by the support of Help to Buy through to March 2021.
This performance contrasts with other sectors of the construction industry, however. The sharpest decline is forecast in the commercial sector, where a post-EU Referendum fall in contract awards for new offi ces space since the second half of 2016 is expected to translate into a fall in activity this
year. Offi ces construction is expected to decline 20 percent in 2018 and 10 percent in 2019. The impact of Carillion’s liquidation will be felt on commercial PFI health projects, including the Midland Metropolitan Hospital and the Royal Liverpool Hospital, where work has been paused to reassign or re-tender contracts. Output in the PFI health sub- sector is forecast to fall fi ve percent this year. Noble Francis, economics director at the Construction Products Association (CPA) said: “The start of the year was a bad one for construction. Carillion, the UK’s second biggest contractor, went into liquidation in January and led to an hiatus on infrastructure and commercial projects. The snowy weather badly aff ected work on site for at least three working days in February and March and, as a result, 2018 Q1 construction is likely to be £1.5bn lower than in 2017 Q4. Fortunes for the industry overall will depend on the extent to which construction activity catches up during the rest of the year.
“Construction activity is forecast to be fl at this year and rise by 2.7 percent next year, primarily driven by infrastructure and private house building. Half of the activity lost in Q1 is expected to be
regained during 2018. Work on some Carillion projects has already restarted, on joint-ventures or where major clients such as Network Rail have been keen to continue work. Other projects will take time to re-tender but are still likely to restart this year. Large infrastructure projects should also allow for a catch-up after the adverse weather and often have penalty clauses for delays. Despite the sector’s strong growth prospects, questions remain about poor government delivery of major infrastructure projects.
“Private housing starts are expected to rise two percent in both 2018 and 2019 in spite of the slowdown in the general housing market as Help to Buy is clearly sustaining demand for new build homes. Outside London, house building will rise quicker than this but growth overall will be constrained by the ongoing fall in demand for high- end residential in the capital.
“The growth in infrastructure and private house building this year is forecast to off set falls in the hard-hit commercial sector, where Brexit uncertainty continues to hit international investment in new offi ce towers in London and high street woes aff ects the construction of new retail.”
Ziehl-Abegg recognised for quality training
Z
iehl-Abegg has come out on top in a study examining the quality of training provided across 20,000 German companies. The study, entitled Germany’s best companies for training 2018, surveyed the training officers of 20,000 companies – from 93 sectors – with the largest number of employees.
Professor Werner Sarges, a specialist in personnel diagnostics from the Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, provided the scientific support for the study, which focused on five aspects with varying weightings: the success of the training (24 percent), structural data on the training (24 percent), remuneration (16 percent), training ratio (20 percent), and additional offerings for trainees (16 percent).
“Ziehl-Abegg is not only a leader in the manufacture of fans for ventilation and air conditioning technology, but also lift drive motors,” said members of the jury. The training concept, which was praised by the Heilbronn-Franken Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also impressed the jurors with its foreign deployments.
8 May 2018
Peter Fenkl, chief executive of Ziehl-Abegg SE added: “The nationwide study in Germany testifies to our long-term commitment to qualified training. I am pleased with the result for our trainers who are highly committed to providing the next generation of skilled workers with the best possible start to their careers.”
Of those surveyed, a total of 745 companies were able to maintain their rankings.
www.acr-news.com
The BBC calls for
refrigeration engineers
B
BC Radio Four is producing a new series which traces a group of people who studied together at some point in their
lives and then went their separate ways, and a refrigeration course that took place in the 1970s has been chosen for participation. The series will look at the twists and turns that take people from the same starting point in diff erent directions. BBC Radio Four is already in touch with two individuals, Nick Petford and John Russell-Sanders, who attended the Refrigeration Engineering course at Eastleigh Technical College, Hampshire in 1978-79.
If you attended the same course either at
the same time or just before/after (or have a friend or colleague who did), then contact dan.
hardoon@bbc.co.uk or call 020 7765 5073.
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