Greetings!
Welcome to this month's edition of the newsletter. As my summary below explains, market prospects remain flat or pessimistic despite some good signs. With a general election now only a matter of months away the uncertainty is starting to show through in future prospect.
I think that most companies will be starting to prepare to move their businesses forward either for 2010 or 2011 and offering sustainable products and services is one way to do this. Ecobuild should provide a good source of ideas and inspiration and if you need to gain a better understanding of the how it works we have published a new report Marketing Sustainability in Construction. If you wish to promote your sustainable products to specifiers then see my article "Getting the most from CPD". |
| Construction Market Activity |
Latest figures from CLG show that house prices increased by 0.8% in December 2009 making the annual increase 2.9%. Although this is the second month running when the annual increase has been positive, suggesting that the residential housing market is recovering, commentators are still cautious that this will stabilise or even fall in the second half of the year.
RICS monthly construction market survey found that private housing workloads had fallen 17% in the final quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, the Glenigan index recorded an 8% drop in activity in January 2010 compared to the previous January. It is thought this was due to the severe weather which particularly affected housing starts.
Public sector non-housing workloads also declined for the first time since quarter 1 of 2009, according to RICS, indicating that there has been a slowdown in planned government capital spending projects. Many respondents cited the general election, as well as the continued lack of development finance, as the main cause of inactivity
But expect some activity in the schools sector as Partnership for Schools expects £775 million of work to be placed through their framework for Academies in the next 6 months. |
| Getting the most from CPD |
Did you see the recent article in Building Magazine by the RIBA CPD Providers Network suggesting ways that specifiers could earn their CPD? It made some good points, but also reminded me that if you use CPD seminars to sell there is more to it than just writing and delivering a seminar.
Read the full article |
| Marketing Sustainability in Construction |
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Sustainability has become a key issue for everyone in construction so Competitive Advantage have published a new report "Marketing Sustainability in Construction". Giving an overview of the opportunities and requirements to market sustainable products and services into the UK construction market. It will inform those unfamiliar, and provide a check-list for those who are already familiar with the market. Priced at £100 it can be ordered or purchased online from the Competitive Advantage website. |
| Ecobuild |
In just a few weeks it will be time for Ecobuild (2nd-4th March, Earls Court), now one of the top events in the UK construction industry calendar, this year promises plenty of interest, including an extensive range of seminars. If you are going to be there around mid-day on 3rd March why not book a place on the CIMCIG walkabout - a guided tour of some of the exhibition stands pointing out the best and the worst and an excellent source of ideas about how (and how not) to exhibit. |
