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Construction Market Activity - July
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that construction output fell 6% in May compared to a year earlier. It was up on April but that was a very low month. The Construction Products Association described the outlook for 2012 as bleak. A combination of the economic uncertainty, the long Jubilee bank holiday and bad weather has delayed projects. London, where most of recent growth has been, will also see sites shutting down for the Olympics and Paralympics. These views have been supported by the Construction Products Association's latest State of Trade Survey which describes prospects as increasingly challenging. The Chartered Institute of Purchasing Managers Survey for June reported that construction activity fell at the fastest rate for 2½ years. The RICS UK Housing Market Survey reported a fall in both prices and activity. Finally the BNP Paribas / Tristan Fitzgerald report Housing the Nation anticipates housing completions at below 100,000 this year, which would be more than 20% down on last year.
Some positive news, reported by Glenigan, is that the value of shelved projects has continued to fall and is 29% lower than the equivalent period a year ago. Glenigan see this as an indication of improving private sector developer confidence.
This week there have been announcements of new initiatives such as £9 billion of rail investment, where station upgrades will provide some general contracting work. Ofgem has announced £22 billion of work to upgrade the gas and electricity networks. Unfortunately infrastructure projects take time to plan so will not impact on this year or next. Most recent has been the Treasury announcement of guarantees to back financing of £40 billion of projects and a temporary lending programme to get £6 billion of PPP projects underway. These are reported to be in Transport, Health, Housing and Education.
To try and persuade the government to do more for the construction industry go to the Get Britain Building website. Here you can sign an online petition and get a standard letter to send to your MP. The more noise our politicians hear from the construction industry the more likely they are to do something. |
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Regulations & Initiatives - quick update
Secondary legislation for the Green Deal has now been published. This comprises the following:
These come into force on 28th January 2013, after the Green Deal launch in October 2012.
In the Government Construction Strategy - One Year On review published earlier this month the government says that there has been excellent progress against major milestones with industry engaging energetically with the programme. Cost benchmarking data has been published, trail projects have been established and adoption of Building Information Modelling is progressing well.
The Homes & Communities Agency has set out its priorities for the next 3 years. They say that some of the 80,000 homes set to be built through the £1.8bn Affordable Homes Programme will be delivered sooner than originally anticipated. |
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Designing with sustainable products - new research
This is a new research report into how Architects design non-residential sustainable buildings, the sources they use and the information they need from manufacturers.
As part of the research we asked Architects to name the manufacturers they considered to provide good levels of information about sustainable products. See our website to see who Architects consider to be the top manufacturers for provision of sustainable product information.
Research for the report was conducted during June 2012. It comprises 150 targeted telephone interviews with Architects designing non-residential buildings, covering 7 sectors of the UK construction industry. To learn more or to purchase the report visit our website. |
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Customer satisfaction surveys - main factors to consider
It should be common practice for companies to conduct annual customer satisfaction surveys, often to meet the requirements of their own quality management programmes. However there is much greater value to be gained than a simple box ticking exercise. By understanding your customers' perceptions of your business you can promote your strengths and improve your shortcomings. A range of subjects can be covered in the research, so shedding light on what is thought of customer service, brand, product quality and price.
This blog article, the first in a series, covers the main factors to consider when completing a customer satisfaction survey. Read more. |
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Communicating with Building Services Engineers
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What's being said - a round-up of useful marketing items
Market Research - free reports
CIMCIG is supporting the regular State of the Industry survey. If you provide feedback about your business you can receive a free copy of the report, which will provide useful background for your business strategy and planning.
Competitive Advantage also have a survey being supported by CIMCIG, being conducted on Marketing Spend. And like the State of the Industry survey, if you participate you will receive the concluding report free of charge, a useful benchmark when setting your marketing budgets, click here to participate.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing have released wave two of their Social Media Benchmark survey, an infographic summarising the findings can be viewed online, or CIM members can download the full report free of charge.
Best CPD Practice
In our training programme Effective Specification Selling I promote the benefits of using CPD to build relationships with customers, so it's good to see RIBA Insights writing about this in Best CPD Practice.
If you are looking to effectively sell-in your CPD programme and introduce techniques to ensure the seminar is delivered in a style which is both memorable and effective, then take a look at our training programme on Delivering CPD Seminars.
Why Building Product Manufacturers need to BIM
RIBA Insight have also written about BIM, giving important reasons why product manufactureres need to embrace BIM now. Competitive Advantage's report on Adoption of BIM is a valuable reference document for companies developing their own BIM strategy.
NMBS merchants conference twitter feed
NMBS held their merchants conference in Marbella at the end of June, I presented on the opportunities for merchants from the Green Deal. Builders Merchants Journal ran a live blog and a twitter feed providing coverage. See the comments on http://www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net/nmbs2012/ |
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Forthcoming events
The Construction Marketing Awards: open for entries!
Organised by The Chartered Institute of Marketing Construction Industry Group (CIMCIG), the Construction Marketing Awards are an opportunity to benchmark your organisation's performance against the best in the industry. The awards recognise creativity, innovation and effectiveness in the implementation of marketing campaigns for the built environment.
Deadline for entries is 26 September 2012. There are 17 categories, entries are free and you can enter as many categories as you wish. For further details go to http://www.cmawards.co.uk/
The Green Deal and taking Sustainability to the Consumer - 27 July - 13.00 - 14.00 - CIMCIG Webinar
I will be presenting: Taking Sustainability to the Consumer, starting with an update on the Green Deal followed by some of the key conclusions on communicating with consumers. Unfortunately access is restricted to CIMCIG members.
Delegates should leave with an understanding of how Deloitte have successfully used sponsorship and how organisations of all sizes can use sponsorship effectively as part of the marketing efforts.
Timber Expo - 25 - 26 September - Coventry
Timber Expo is the premier show in the UK for all those involved in the timber sector.
The Changing Face of Specification - getting leverage from new technology - 29 September - London
The construction industry is making increased use of new technology like LinkedIn, Twitter, Apps and BIM. Just how is this impacting on the process of specification? |
