A new poll from the Scottish Building Federation suggests builders are leaning towards remaining in the EU, despite limited exposure to the union…
The issue of the EU referendum has undoubtedly been divisive, with many sectors already setting out whether they support remain or leave. Now, a new poll of Scottish Building Federation (SBF) members has revealed the majority are leaning towards remaining.
The Scottish Construction Monitor examines how confident the SBF membership is about their business. In the latest quarterly report it was revealed that one in three employers thought leaving the EU would negatively impact their business. Only eight per cent thought the outcome would be positive.
Furthermore, the report found a fifth of members questioned were uncertain what the impact would be, while more than 40 per cent believed it would be neutral.
There is no doubt major political events, such as the referendum, have the ability to shake businesses. The build up to the General Election last year saw a dip in planning approvals and an overall caution within construction. It appears the vote for Europe will also cause some uncertainty, with Scottish construction bosses revealing they were less confident about the future outlook of their business when compared to the final quarter of last year.
While this quarter was the eleventh consecutive to report a positive overall confidence rating, the SBF said the rating had slipped by five points to plus three.
One of the interesting facts to come out of the monitor was the majority of Scottish construction firms do not employ workers from overseas. In fact, only 23 per cent of SBF members reported they employ labour from other EU nations, while 77 per cent said they did not.
Additionally, only one third of Scottish construction firms reported they procured goods and services from other EU countries, while two thirds did not. Only six per cent of businesses said they exported to EU countries, while 94 per cent said they did not.
SBF managing director Vaughan Hart said: “The responses we’ve received to the questions related to the EU referendum suggest there is limited interest in or enthusiasm for the European Union amongst construction employers.
“The results also show that the industry’s level of exposure to the European Union is far more limited than might be the case for certain other industries. The most significant relationship building companies have with other EU countries appears to be through their supply chain.
“But out of the minority of building companies responding who think the UK leaving the EU would have an impact on their business, four times as many think this impact would be negative as those who think Brexit would be good for their business.
“More generally, a further drop in industry confidence this quarter adds weight to the view that 2016 looks set to be a challenging year for the Scottish economy.”
Like a number of organisations the SBF has determined it will remain out of the campaign process for the referendum.
Hart said: “I would observe that it is perhaps this growing sense of uncertainty about the economic outlook which explains why, on balance, our members are leaning marginally towards a preference for remaining in the European Union when the referendum takes place in June.”