The Chartered Institute of Building has said in a report entitled “The Real Face of Construction” that London is the only region where the construction industry grew.

The report says that construction output in the capitol grew by more than 20 percent between 2007 and 2013, and by the end of the period making up more than 20 percent of the UK’s construction industry. Once inflation is taken into account the report goes on to highlight that London was the only place construction grew.

Detailed in the report is also a new way of measuring construction’s contribution to the overall size of the economy. The method was developed by Dr Stephen Gruneberg at Westminster and suggests the industry is worth around 15.3 percent of the economy rather than the 6.3 percent value added attributed to it by official statistics.

The report is accompanied by a guide for MPs and prospective parliamentary candidates about the importance of the construction industry to the wider economy.

Chris Blythe, chief executive of the CIOB, said: “Construction is often simplistically viewed in terms of employment statistics and visible work on building sites, but this overlooks the increasingly high-tech nature of an industry that is leading on innovation and contributing directly to national productivity.

“The quality of our buildings has a lasting impact on the wellbeing of individuals and communities across all regions and sectors.

“Much political and media attention focuses on house building and, while this is an extremely important issue, it actually accounts for a minority of total UK construction output. We would like to see discussions become integrated into a much wider agenda. The decisions made today will be felt for decades and generations.”

Fortunately we're now feeling the benefits of the recovery in the construction industry with OBAS clients throughout the UK increasing their demands for construction supplies with month on month growth being reported by a large number of our clients.