Construction Sales and Marketing Newsletter

October 2014

Welcome to this month's edition of the Construction Sales and Marketing Newsletter.

Construction market

Latest figures for output in the construction industry from the ONS show a fall for August 2014.

The Construction Products Association's latest State of the Trade Survey shows manufacturers with renewed optimism going forward towards the end of 2014.

The Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index shows a slight increase, with housing activity growth happening at its lowest rate since May 2014.

Bellway reported a 75% profit improvement.

Read full report including:

Output in construction, State of the Trade Survey, Glenigan Index, house prices indexes and Purchase Managers Index.

Regulations & initiatives

Sustainability

DECC have announced that a further Ł100m is to be made available for the installation of household energy efficiency measures under the Green Deal. The Energy and Climate Change Committee has recommended new incentives to reinvigorate the scheme. The ECA have called on Amber Rudd MP, the newly appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Climate Change, to make saving the Green Deal her first priority

BIM

Innovate UK has awarded a Ł1m contract to RIBA Enterprises to develop a prototype digital tool that is set to transform the procurement of buildings and infrastructure at home and abroad. The CIC have made available: BS 1192-4:2014 collaborative production of information Part 4: Fulfilling employer's information exchange requirements using COBie - Code of practice

Industry updates

Minister Brandon Lewis has announced new powers for councils to enable them to build more affordable homes. Eric Pickles has launched a new Ł400 million programme to boost building of new rental homes. Eleven areas across the country will benefit from the latest government-backed opportunity: Right to Build. A review by EC Harris Built Asset Consultancy says the NHS in England could be saving Ł1.5 billion a year by improving the efficiency of their estates facilities management. It goes on to say 'surplus land could generate some 14,794 houses (Smith Institute 2014)'.

Articles

Visualising research findings - my heroes

3 stages to becoming a Trusted Advisor

Not sales rep but Trusted Advisor - slideshare

Marketing & sales

This month the common thread is inbound or content marketing.

Hubspot have issued their report State of Inbound 2014 - 2015. Part of this research looks at the difference between in-bound and content marketing.

Onespot's infographic reminds us how actual results don't always line up objectives and provides a few tips on how to close the gap. The Great Divide in Content Marketing

With the rise of inbound marketing Construction Marketing Media remind us not to abandon tried and tested methods saying it is still important to pick up the phone and talk. And MRA Marketing remind us of the importance of integrating your marketing to leverage effect.

Read in full

Forthcoming webinar

Researching Construction Markets - 20th November 12.30

This webinar will cover how to:

Select markets of interest

Decide what forms of research to use

Secure internal buy-in

Write a comprehensive research brief

Present data in an easy to understand form

Get free market data

Forthcoming events

The iGeneration: The Quick and the Dead - Thursday 23 October 2014
Low Energy Know How Grimsby - Wednesday 29th October 2014
CIBSE Leadership in Building Performance Conference and Exhibition - 29 - 29 October 2014
Digital thinking smart building - Thursday 4th November 2014

For a full listing of forthcoming events visit our website.

Speech Storm is offering a freeThink Differently workshop, facilitated by one of their experienced consultants, at a time and place that suits you. Think Differently' is a 1-day workshop to help companies identify and explore opportunities for improving the customer experience through personalised call handling.