What do you do on your coffee break?

For me, I will glance at the papers and the construction trade mags and keep an eye on the ever-rolling news cycle.

I know, it isn’t much of a break but it is always worth keeping your eyes open and your ears to the ground (or the deck, in my case).

So, back from a family holiday and out on site reviewing our projects, it was interesting to see encouraging news for the UK construction sector, which despite the major fall in the rate of housebuilding (the BIGGEST since the dreaded “P” word which we do not utter on site or in the office) is reported to be returning to growth.

This welcome boost is down to a rise in corporate work according to the S&P Global/CIPS construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for July.

Interestingly, despite reports that I’ve seen regarding vacancy rates of office space (in the capital), companies polled said there were more office refurbishing jobs and infrastructure work.

Tim Moore, Economics Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:

“July data indicated that some parts of the UK construction sector gained momentum, notably commercial building and civil engineering activity. This led to a renewed rise in total construction output which, although modest, was the fastest for five months. Survey respondents commented on increased infrastructure work, office refurbishments, and resilient demand for a range of commercial projects.

Let’s not get carried away, this is modest growth, (51.7 in July, up from 48.9 in June) but it is the highest level for five months and we welcome any good news.

We’re certainly busy, having just finished a major project in West London at the ever-expanding film studios that count the much-loved “Ted Lasso” series amongst their biggest shoots to date (you can read more about that here).

Indeed, even with the drop-off in house building, our residential team is busier than ever, with bespoke steel deck projects for a wide range of developers in recent months showing that there is an appetite for bringing modern methods of construction onto site.

Naturally, I will be keeping an eye on August’s report and it will be interesting to see if there is positive momentum but for now, it is just nice to see some positive signs for the industry!