Builders - Collapsing Confidence
Only 5% of small building companies expecting workloads to increase in 2012, according to the latest FMB State of Trade Survey.
Workloads for small to medium-sized building firms have declined in each of the 16 quarters to the end of December 2011, and the survey reports that confidence in the repair, maintenance and improvement (RM&I) market is set to plunge.
Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the FMB said: “The disastrous results for the RM&I market are very alarming given that the Government will be launching its Green Deal home improvement initiative in October. Market conditions in the building industry haven’t been this bad since the first quarter of 2009. Clearly, robust incentives for householders are needed if the Green Deal initiative is to succeed in a depressed market.”
