The latest quarterly survey of Scottish builders shows confidence has soared to record heights…
The Scottish construction sector has seen confidence increase by six points on the first quarter of 2015, reaching a new high score of +35.
The news, which will undoubtedly be welcomed by the sector, means it is the sixth consecutive quarter that Scottish builders’ confidence has received an overall positive rating.
The score, published in the Scottish Construction Monitor, is reached using data collected from a quarterly survey of members of the Scottish Building Federation. Respondents were asked how confident they felt about their company’s prospects over the next 12 months compared to the previous year. This latest score represents the highest level since the monitor began in 2008.
Figures showed the percentage of respondents who felt more confident compared to last year had increased from 60 per cent last quarter to 64 per cent this quarter. Furthermore, the percentage of respondents who said they were less confident about their firm’s future prospects decreased from 12 per cent in the first quarter of 2015 to four per cent in this quarter.
Vaughan Hart, managing director of the Scottish Building Federation, said: “It’s encouraging that employers’ confidence about their future prospects is continuing to rise.
“The results are particularly striking against the backdrop of recent reports that overall business confidence in Scotland has declined due to falling profits.
“In construction, there can be no doubt that margins remain very tight but there is at least a supply of new work out there now, which certainly wasn’t the case two years ago.
“As we’ve said before, certain sectors of the industry are faring better than others and we’re concerned that industry employment is lagging significantly behind output.
“I’m encouraged that employers view apprenticeships as a top priority for future investment from the industry levy.
“Hopefully, this finding will add strength to CITB’s arm in prioritising apprenticeship funding as it reviews the future training needs of the industry.”
It is uncertain if the increased confidence is due to the recent outcome of the general election, which saw the Scottish National Party take an overwhelming win in the nation. There had been a level of uncertainty in the run up to the election, in particular over the outcome of the Westminster vote. Experts had expected a hung parliament, with the smaller parties wrangling with the Tories or Labour in a bid to create the UK government. However, a Conservative majority win saw stability return to UK politics.