THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY
LATEST CEF CONSTRUCTION SURVEY REFLECTS A SECTOR WHERE THE INFLATIONARY PRESSURES OF THE LAST 18 MONTHS ARE BECOMING UNSUSTAINABLE…
Inflationary pressures in NI construction sector are now business critical
O ver a third of NI
rest of 2022 and into 2023, we are seeing a significant draining of confidence within our membership as to their medium-term prospects – with an alarming number now talking openly about business survival as being their main focus. “For those who engage in public sector works, the picture is further complicated by the lack of a functioning Northern Ireland Executive and the consequent impact on Government Departments being able to deliver their procurement pipelines in a timely manner. With many Government clients telling us in recent weeks that they are operating on contingency budgets for the current financial year, we are now very much in the worst-case scenario for many when it comes to market conditions. “A Northern Ireland Executive is not, of course, a panacea to many
of the challenges that contractors are confronted with – but it can set a budget which unlocks a sustainable pipeline of work, and it can also, as our survey detailed, spearhead discussions around alternative forms of Government contracts which would be of benefit to all in the current crisis. “When we also consider that housebuilders are facing not just the inflationary challenge but also the unavailability of wastewater connections in many parts of the country and a planning system that is in urgent need of major structural reform, it is clear that its prospects are also more uncertain than at any point since the 2007/08 financial crisis. Solutions to this are undoubtedly possible – but they require a fundamental shift in policy, performance and mindsets in order to unlock the new build housing which is an economic, societal and environmental imperative.”
construction firms who took part in the latest CEF
Construction Survey stated their main priority in the year ahead was to stabilise output and consolidate their business, with 17% admitting that business survival was their main focus. The CEF Construction Survey covered the first six months of 2022 and reflects on many of the key challenges that contractors, civil engineers and housebuilders are facing currently. Mark Spence, Managing Director of the Construction Employers Federation, said of the results, “These results paint a stark picture of a sector that, while resilient in the face of many of the unprecedented headwinds of the last two years, is finding the never-ending inflationary pressures increasingly impossible to bear. “With absolutely no sign of these pressures easing over the
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