“URGENT action” is required to halt a slide in Scottish infrastructure work, according to the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA).
Results from the organisation’s quarterly workload trends survey for 2018 Q2 found that, despite workloads improving in Britain overall, the picture in Scotland is gloomy, with workloads declining for a third consecutive quarter, according to one third of firms, on balance.
48% of Scottish firms, on balance, reported that orders had decreased in Q2, the lowest in nearly eight years. 20%, on balance, expected workloads to fall over the next year, while 26%, on balance, anticipated a decline in orders.
Grahame Barn, chief executive of CECA Scotland said, “While these results are not unexpected, they make grim reading for Scottish contractors, and the industry as a whole. Urgent action must now be taken by governments in both Holyrood and Westminster to arrest this alarming slide in activity in the Scottish civils market.
“The infrastructure sector creates jobs and acts as a driver of growth in the economy, and it is positive that it is doing just that in Great Britain as a whole. More must be done to ensure the sector in Scotland isn’t damaged by continuing falls in activity. Scotland’s businesses and communities rely on the infrastructure our members deliver, and must not be short-changed on the economic growth a thriving industry can bring.”
