Whilst experiencing a slight contraction recently, a positive move for the Scottish construction industry see recent figures from Barbours ABI showing Scotland’s infrastructure contracts further boosted the Scottish economy, which has now returned to pre-2008 levels.


The contracts were awarded in a number of different sectors including health and medical, industrial and education construction whilst the largest construction contract signed in Scotland in June was the £100m Speyside Macallan distillery. Other contracts include the £37m Nigg Energy Park in Easter Ross, the £40m Madras College in Fife as well as three other secondary schools which form part of the Scottish government’s Schools for the Future project.

The health and medical sector contracts accounted for over 50% of the overall contracts in June (an increase of almost 42% on June 2013).

Michael Dall of Barbour ABI said: "The award of Scotland's Schools for the Future projects also gave education construction in Scotland a much-needed injection of investment in June, with state secondary schools the main types of project awarded.”

Recently Bank of Scotland’s Chief Economist Donald MacRae said the recovery is now “firmly embedded”. He pointed out that employment has significantly risen whilst "Employment growth was accompanied by rising salaries, providing further evidence of increasing business confidence.”

The construction industry in Scotland has a lot to look forward to in the coming years with the announcements of these kind of major infrastructure projects. However it’s not just the larger contractors that are set to benefit as Federation of Master Builders in Scotland Director Gordon Nelson recently pointed out, by demonstrating the SME sector is starting to grow again, something that will no doubt have positive benefits for contractors throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK.