South East: Region top for industrial construction, says Barbour ABI

The South East accounted for nearly a quarter of the total value of industrial construction contracts in the UK in March, according to a report released by Barbour ABI, a leading provider of construction intelligence services.

The value of industrial construction contracts in the South East totalled more than £76 million in March, accounting for 21.7% of the overall contracts awarded for the sector UK-wide – an increase of 8.1% in the region’s share of industrial contracts on the same month last year.

These latest figures, taken from Barbour ABI’s Economic & Construction Market Review, highlight encouraging growth in the industrial construction sector across the UK. It confirms that the value of projects totalled £355m in March based on a three-month rolling average – a 72% increase year-on-year.

On the findings of the report, Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, commented: “Infrastructure construction continues to perform well in the South East, and again the dominant types of project awarded are predominantly warehouse developments, which accounted for 44% of contract values nationally in March - a 14% increase on March 2013.

“In this region, projects such as Waitrose’s £70m national distribution centre on Magna Park in Milton Keynes, and a number of smaller schemes also designed to cater to the boom in online shopping, all contributed to the sector’s upturn this month.”

The Economic & Construction Market Review is a monthly report designed to give valuable, current insight into UK construction industry performance. It is compiled from Barbour ABI’s records of construction data for every UK planning application, and key indicators, such as the Office for National Statistics’ Construction New Orders data.