The construction sector – an industry that supports many umbrella company contractors – has recently said that some signs of initial improvement have emerged.
The National Specialist Contractors Council’s latest report found that a sizable number of construction contractors and umbrella workers have seen the beginnings of an improvement in the sector. The Council found that 39 per cent of survey respondents were experiencing a higher level of enquiries in 2012’s fourth quarter, while 36 per cent said they found that the number of orders made have increased as well.
The Council said that these new figures were much improved over 2011’s fourth quarter in regards to the number of enquiries and orders. Longer term prospects were also found to be much more encouraging as well, according to the survey results, as 56 per cent of survey respondents said they anticipated their workload to increase; not only that, but 44 per cent of specialist contractors had the expectation that the next year would bring an expansion to their businesses.
However, not every specialist contractor is looking that far ahead, the research findings show. In fact, the lion’s share of respondents refused to speculate on market performance over the three month mark, citing factors such as the availability of labour, the cost of materials, and market demand when it came to obfuscating their ability to look too far into the future of their chosen profession.
