November Contract Awards See Marginal Increase to £4.9 billion

THE TOTAL VALUE of construction contract awards in November 2020 was £4.9 billion based on a three-month rolling average. This is a marginal (0.2%) increase on October but is 9.1% lower than for November 2019.

Contract award numbers decreased by 17.9% this month to 715, compared with 871 in October. Annual comparisons show a 16.4% decrease compared to 855 contract awards for November 2019.

The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain.

North West and London Leading

In November, London was the leading region with 16.8% of awards and a total of 77 projects. The North West was only slightly behind accounting for a share of 16.3% of awards and a total of 98 projects. The third largest region this month was the South East with 13.9% of awards.

Analysis by sector indicates that residential maintained lead status in November accounting for 38.9% of awards. With 19.1% of awards, infrastructure was the second largest sector this month whilst in third place commercial & retail held share of 16.3%.

Tom Hall Chief Economist at Barbour ABI

Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI and AMA Research said, “The in-month value of contract awards in November was £3.9bn. This is less than the historical average and is consistent with our previous assessments that, since the first UK-wide lockdown, the construction industry has returned but at lower levels than previously.

“The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine has raised everyone’s hopes of a return to normality at some point in 2021. But in the meantime, we will have to manage many downside risks: a thin Brexit deal at the very best, higher unemployment and continuing movement restrictions over winter and spring.”

You can download the full report here.

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