Here’s a pleasant bit of news: it turns out that the jobs market in the capital is positively roaring along when it comes to umbrella company contractors.
The construction sector in particular is booming right now, as a new report revealed that London’s cadre of building developers are falling over each other in their eagerness to snap up construction contractors in particular right now. In fact, research shows that there are nearly twice as many contracts open for building efforts in the capital as there were just two years ago.
There’s an average of around four tenders a month in London’s commercial contracting marketplace. The value of these tenders are more or less in the £50 million and under range, and further investigations revealed that three out of every four contractors said that they’ve been much more busy this year than they were back in 2011, and that’s a serious uptick year-on-year.
I for one think this is fantastic news. The construction sector is usually one that feels the impact of poor economic conditions harder than any other, as the big-ticket prices on erecting new buildings can prove to be prohibitive to investors in a soft market. For what it’s worth, the news that the pipeline has strengthened to the point where there are developers so keen to snap up contractors right now that they’re fighting tooth and nail amongst themselves is absolutely brilliant. I can only hope this trend continues to grow in the future and that it brings plenty of prosperity to London’s construction contractor community.
Another benefit, as far as I can see, is that this increased competitiveness between developers means that contractors will be able to easily pick and choose from the most lucrative and rewarding contracts. The skills shortage gripping the UK may drive compensation for experienced contractors even further heavenward, as the needs of the industry keep growing but the number of contract workers remains the same; despite the stereotype of construction workers being blokes with more brawn than brains, it takes some serious stones to put together buildings, and the mettle of these construction workers is only matched by their business savvy!
