The UK construction industry saw an almost 8pc rise in contracts in May, dispelling fears of a slowdown after the European Union referendum vote.<\/p>\n
According to data from Barbour ABI, which looks at all contract activity in the sector, \u00a36.1bn worth of new contracts was awarded in May, 7.9pc higher than in the same month last year.<\/p>\n
The number of construction projects agreed in the UK was\u00a010.2pc higher than the same period\u00a0last year, although it was down 10pc on April this year<\/p>\n
The majority of the contracts awarded in May by value were in Scotland, accounting for 24pc of the UK total, the research found. This was driven by the Beatrice offshore wind farm project in the Moray Firth, which is valued at\u00a0\u00a31.3bn.<\/p>\n
This was followed by London, which had 19pc of contract value. The largest project awarded in the capital was a \u00a3325.8m deal with Canary Wharf Group to build new office building Ten Bank Street.<\/p>\n
I<\/span>nfrastructure projects accounted for the highest proportion of contracts by value, at 39pc of the total, while the residential sector accounted for 25pc. This showed that despite cooling activity at the top end of the residential sector, activity in the new build market remains strong.<\/p>\n Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said: “With May figures\u00a0hovering around the \u00a36bn mark, similar to the previous two months, this indicates a stable\u00a0construction market that is looking towards the long term, with little sign of worry from the EU\u00a0referendum vote.<\/p>\n He added that the increase in contract values in May from\u00a0infrastructure, as well as the\u00a0commercial and retail sector, gave a solid\u00a0indication that the industry as a whole was “moving positively”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The UK construction industry saw an almost 8pc rise in contracts in May, dispelling fears of a slowdown after the European Union referendum vote. According to data from Barbour ABI, which looks at all contract activity in the sector, \u00a36.1bn worth of new contracts was awarded in May, 7.9pc higher than in the same month […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1564],"yoast_head":"\n