NEW figures released by CECA Scotland have revealed that civils workloads are ‘finally’ on the rise north of the border.
CECA’s latest Workload Trends Survey for Scotland, which is published quarterly, has found that workloads rose according to 27% of firms on balance – the first increase since Q3 in 2017.
Despite this, CECA stressed that civils contractors ‘remain concerned’ about the future outlook for the sector. No Scottish firms, on balance, reported that orders had risen. 6% of firms expected workloads to decline over the next year and 25%, on balance, expected a fall in new work orders.
Employment also declined, while costs are reported to have risen.
Grahame Barn, chief executive of CECA Scotland said, “We are obviously pleased that after two years of declining workloads, there are signs of light at the end of the tunnel however we remain concerned about the future outlook, given that ordered books remain stubbornly static.
“These are challenging times for the civils sector and with the ongoing uncertainty around not just Brexit but the future infrastructure pipeline, we will continue to make the case for investment in infrastructure to be the top priority for both the Scottish and UK Governments.”
