According to Michael Dall of construction industry research firm Barbour ABI, the recovery is still moving at a very slow pace, with August seeing a small increase in year-on-year construction awards.


In the context of the rest of the economy, construction is flat whilst the only sector to return to pre-crisis levels is the service sector with the economy taking much longer to recover than in previous recessionary periods.


Housing continues to area in the construction industry which is seeing growth with private housing developments increasing by 15.9% on 2013 whilst public housing development was 30% higher than last year.


According to Barbour ABI data there was a 4.9% increase in the amount of construction contracts awarded (at around £5.3bn) during the summer months when compared to last year.


Most of the contracts awarded were in the South East and in London which jointly accounted for around 42% of the total of UK contract awards.


Construction supplies OBAS is continuing to see our clients benefiting from the recovery in the construction industry and the economy more generally.