THE Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has led the establishment of the Construction Growth Coalition (CGC), a newly formed group that aims to provide an independent voice for the sector.
A key priority is to give greater representation to construction businesses of all sizes, particularly SMEs and micro businesses.
The CGC is led by co-chairs Steve Mulholland, CPA chief executive, and Dr Victoria Hills, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).
Nine founding members represent building companies, plant hire, construction management, scaffolding and access, skills and training, contracting, the self-employed and construction charities. The coalition was officially launched at the CPA Gala Dinner in Liverpool on 5 November 2026.
The launch comes as new data from Glenigan highlights a sharp decline in construction activity across the UK. Total construction project starts fell 21% to £20.3 billion in the three months to September compared with the same period last year.
The coalition warns that recent increases in employer National Insurance Contributions, changes to Business Property Relief (BPR), the introduction of the Employment Rights Act, planning delays and spiralling fuel costs and tax liabilities are damaging investment, job creation, and driving down construction activity.
Steve Mulholland said, “UK construction is in full-blown crisis. Work on Britain’s biggest infrastructure projects is taking too long to get out of the ground and funded, housebuilding is going backwards and small firms and the supply chain are being squeezed from every side.
“You cannot build 1.5 million homes or rebuild the country’s infrastructure while making it harder and more expensive for the people doing the building to train and employ. Make no mistake, government policy is driving the sector into the ground.
“Our members continue to tell us the same thing: the Employment Rights Act, hikes to NICs, growing tax liabilities and endless red tape are suffocating them. At the same time, the patchwork of net zero and decarbonisation policies across the country means companies cannot invest in equipment that can be used nationwide with confidence. The result is stagnant activity, job losses, and an industry under strain.
“We stand ready to work with the government to reverse our sector’s decline and develop policies that can kickstart construction activity.”
Dr Victoria Hills added, “Construction touches every part of national life, from the homes we live in, to the schools, hospitals and infrastructure our communities rely on. Today’s figures show an industry in crisis, and that matters for everyone. The Construction Growth Coalition brings the whole industry together, from sole traders and SMEs, to major employers and industry charities, to give government a single, informed voice from the backbone of British construction.
“Decisions that affect construction should be made with the industry, not for it. We want to work constructively with government to give the sector the skills, standards and certainty it needs to deliver.”
The CGC will campaign on a number of priority areas, including:
· Skills, training, careers, apprenticeships and funding: making it cheaper, simpler and less risky for employers of every size to hire, train and keep people
· Taxes and fuel: a tax system that rewards investment and protects family businesses
· Regulation and procurement: properly resourced planning with a national framework of standardised conditions
· Building safety and the Single Construction Regulator: a proportionate, properly resourced regulator, with accountability where control sits
· Net zero, decarbonisation and energy: practical, affordable, technology-neutral decarbonisation, with enablers before mandates
· Mental health and wellbeing: evidence-led action on the causes of poor mental health, with a voice for SMEs
· Emerging issues
