The Office for National Statistics has published construction output for Q2 2015 and shown overall year-on-year growth of 2.4%.
This comes as no surprise as figures published by the industry for Q2 2015 showed a ninth consecutive quarter of growth across construction.
A greater surprise from the figures is that growth in the north east of England has outpaced the national growth rate.
The latest available regional figures show that in Q1 2015, the north east recorded growth of 6.4%. The national figures was 4.2%
Nick Sangwin, the north east regional chair for the National Federation of Builders, said: “Growth in the north east is being driven by new work, revitalising a region that has taken longer than most to recover from the downturn. The most pressing task now is to ensure we have the skills in place to deliver those jobs.”
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders, said: Despite current growth, and healthy order books, future growth is far from assured. The severity of the skills shortage is such that the industry will see unsustainable rising labour costs or an increasing inability to deliver work. Industry’s efforts to address skills shortages cannot take effect soon enough.”
