Against a backdrop of political upheaval and economic uncertainty, the very fact that the sector emerged from Q3 down only 12% by value compared to Q2 shows a possible new-found resilience. External pressures might ultimately trigger a return to peaks and troughs in productivity, but based on a bounce back in September from the slump in August, the sector seems to be coping admirably at the moment with a fluctuating and unpredictable marketplace.

It could all have been so different and so much worse. Having reported an upbeat 613 individual contracts valued at a combined £4.7 billion in July, the results in August felt very much like the rug was being pulled from beneath the sector’s feet. Admittedly, August is traditionally quiet as the industry swaps boardrooms and building sites for beaches and barbecues. Even so, a monthly total of just £3.3 billion split across 513 individual contracts carried with it a sense of foreboding; as if the spectre of Brexit finally had the industry in its icy grip.

However, just as some began battening down the hatches in preparation for what looked to be a long, cold winter, September rode to the rescue. And even as the monthly calendar flipped to October and the beginning of a 31-day countdown to Brexit, the UK construction sector still had much to smile about. Buoyed by the award of the latest tranche of HS2-related works – the construction of a new station at Old Oak Common, construction contracts researched by Builders’ Conference passed £6 billion in September eventually notching up a monthly total of £6.5 billion.

Although Q3 fall recorded a 12% percent dip in the value of construction contracts awarded, more ominous was the 23% decline in the number of contract awards – down to 1,669 in the quarter. However once again context is everything, with the first three quarters of 2019 representing a 28% percent increase in value of contracts & 9% percent increase in number compared to the same period in 2018.

Build UK contractor members contributed to over a third of all new construction contracts with a total value of £5.5 billion (38%) in Q3. Balfour Beatty topped the list with 14 contracts valued at approximately £870 million, largest of which was a six-year highways contract starting in April 2020 and will include road and pothole repairs, winter maintenance, signs, road markings and grass verge cutting. Balfour Beatty were also awarded a JV with Vinci for the £1 billion Old Oak Common Station in North West London part of HS2 scheme.

Other projects in Q3 include the £400 million mixed use development in Nine Elms Square awarded to Mace Ltd comprising a cluster of towers: two buildings rising up to 46 and 36 storeys; a 10 storey building to the south east and 10 further buildings between seven and 29 storeys. Another mixed use development, £130 million this time in Hull, awarded to Vinci and an £89 million logistic centre in Durham awarded to the retail division of ISG.

With 2019 fast coming to an end the UK construction industry requires a clear & focused route map of expenditure for infrastructure, housing, health and education projects to avoid a return to the boom & bust days of 2008. The General Election in December means that any party with a strong manifesto guaranteeing the delivery of such projects could well be a vote winner.