Contract Awards Up Despite Covid-19

THE TOTAL VALUE of contracts awarded for construction projects in February rose to new heights despite the global spread of Covid-19.

According to Barbour ABI, the total value of construction contract awards in February 2020 was £6.5 billion based on a three-month rolling average.

This is an increase of 16.9% on January and is also 19.9% higher than February 2019.

The number of construction contract awards was 1,003 which is 12.3% higher than January.

Sector by sector

The residential sector received the lion’s share of contracts at 57.0% followed by infrastructure which attracted 21.7% of construction contracts for February.

The next largest sector was commercial & retail with a 5.5% share of awards, followed closely by hotel, leisure & sport with a share of 5.2%.

Regional picture

London received the most contracts at 20.5%, followed by the North West region with 14.6%.

The West Midlands was the third largest region this month with 9.9% of awards followed by the South East which attracted 9.7% of construction contract awards.

At the other end of the scale, Wales was the smallest region with just 2.4% of construction contract awards.

Government action needed

Tom Hall Chief Economist at Barbour ABI

Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said, “Contract awards were strong in February, and with the UK Budget announcement, promised investment should see contract awards hold up – particularly for the residential and infrastructure sectors.

“However, despite the proposed funding, with the rapid spread of Coronavirus across the globe, the trend is likely to be downwards from here and significant government action will be needed to support businesses and citizens as the social and economic impacts are felt.”