UK Europe’s Biggest Construction Market by 2025, Despite Disputes

Information from the “Building” magazine has suggested that the UK will become the largest construction market in Europe by 2025 according to a major report published recently.

On top of this, a report published by the consultancy Global Construction Perspectives with Oxford Economics has predicted that the UK will have the sixth largest construction market by 2030.

Which Projects and Sectors are Fuelling This?

This continued growth is being supported by the investment in mega projects such as HS2 and the next generation of nuclear power plants. There are other prospective mega projects in talks such as Crossrail 2 that will no doubt contribute to the UK’s title of largest construction economy in Europe in the future. The housing sector in the UK will also continue to boost in the coming years to cope with an expanding population in the UK. On the wider spread market for construction, the report predicts also that world construction will grow by 85% by 2030 (circa $8trillion judging on the prospects of almost 50 countries) to reach close to $18trillion by 2030. It seems the UK will be a key player in contributing to this.

What is the Predicted Construction Growth Rate and Where is it Coming From?

Steady growth of near 3% is predicted each year between now and 2030, with strongest growth seen to be in infrastructure, and slowest for non-housing building work, however, my current recruitment needs cover the building sector as well as infrastructure, and I would argue this seems to be a very busy in building construction and fit-out at the moment with Quantity Surveyors seemingly very scarce in this sector.

Another section from the “Building” magazine supports this, stating that London office construction “rises by 18% in six months”, according to a report by a UK leading audit and consultancy firm. Millions of square feet of office space is under construction in London, dominated by technology, media, and telecoms, with companies in the sector taking 44% with the financial sector taking 27%. The largest building to have started during this survey is a whopping 867,000ft squared of office space.

Construction Disputes Market

Also taken from “Building”, the two most common disputes in the industry were disagreements over extensions of time and the value of final accounts. The figures, according to the National Building Specification, cited 50% and 44% respectively took up the % values of market disputes.

As far as parties involved in the disputes go, over 75% of correspondents said that the majority of disputes are between Clients and Main Contractors, and fewer than 30% said they had been involved in a dispute between a Main and Subcontractor. The survey was completed by close to a thousand correspondents across the construction industry, with almost half of them saying they had to deal with some kind of dispute over the last 12 months, and according to a spokesperson in the industry, disputes in construction are almost a “normal way of working”. No wonder my recruitment desk covering Expert Witness and claims vacancies and opportunities is one of the busiest here at Maxim Recruitment for the UK market.

Summary – Why Maxim Recruitment is for You

So even when a construction project isn’t running so smoothly in regards to delays resulting in claims, Maxim still has the foot in the door to fuel this sector of the market with quality staff in the disputes sector. Are you interested in this sector and want to be part of the largest construction economy in Europe to be come 2025? Maxim is the place for you.

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Adam Cadwaladr
Recruitment Consultant – UK
Maxim Recruitment