STRIKE action by tower crane operators this week has highlighted the ‘growing strain’ across construction, the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has claimed.
The trade body is warning that government policy failures have created a ‘perfect storm of weak demand, rising costs and escalating industrial disputes’. The CPA, which represents some of the UK’s largest tower crane rental firms, said the dispute is driven by falling workloads and higher employment costs, which have stripped employers of the capacity to meet further pay demands.
New data from Glenigan underlines the scale of the slowdown, with the total value of projects starting on site falling by around 20% in 2025, while civil engineering activity dropped 56% year-on-year. Main contract awards fell 11%, while planning approvals are at record lows.
The CPA said that collapse in activity has translated into poor utilisation across plant fleets. At the same time, firms have absorbed increases in employer National Insurance and the minimum wage, pushing up baseline employment costs just as revenues have been falling. Subdued demand has also reportedly allowed clients to force down hire rates amid oversupply.
In the current dispute, crane rental firm Wolffkran said average crane utilisation has fallen 26% since 2016, the number of cranes on hire has dropped by around 40%, and average rental rates have declined by 20-25%, leaving little headroom for further cost increases.
Steve Mulholland, chief executive of the Construction Plant-hire Association, said, “Plant hire firms stood by their workforce through long periods of poor utilisation, but cash has been draining out of the sector for over a year. Highly skilled operators understandably want to protect pay differentials, but those expectations are colliding with the reality of a market where work has dried up and hire rates are being pushed down.
“The government’s continued support for a big-state, high-tax approach is exacerbating the problem. Employers cannot give in to unrealistic demands when policy decisions have stripped work out of the market and driven costs up simultaneously.”
The CPA warned that unless confidence is restored and investment unlocked, industrial relations across construction will continue to deteriorate.
