Construction Bubbling But No Corks Popping

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Few champagne corks will be popping at the two months of slowing decline that has been shown in the Purchasing Managers’ Index, yet many in the construction sector are now daring to hope that the worst is past.

This is according to Gareth Belsham, a director of Bloom Building Consultancy, who says: “May’s modest improvement in the PMI data confirms that April’s bump was no blip.

“Certainly there’s a spring in the step of those focusing on commercial property. The PMI data confirms that commercial work is now the best-performing subsector [Glenigan says it is residential] and on the project front-line we’re seeing some encouraging light at the end of the tunnel. In the past few weeks we’ve seen a number of commercial property investors who had paused decide to press the ‘go’ button.

 “Yet the progress is all relative. While it’s the stand-out performer in the PMI data, commercial construction activity is still technically in negative territory. And its modest shine is flattered by the sharper declines seen in housebuilding and civil engineering.

“Across the industry, sentiment is still finely balanced. 39% of the contractors surveyed predict that workloads will improve over the next 12 months. But an increase in the number of construction workers being laid off hardly speaks to an industry preparing for boom times.

Office for National Statistics

“The official ONS data showed a big jump in the value of new orders placed in the first quarter of the year - up more than a quarter compared to Q4 2024 - and as these feed through into projects we will hopefully see these marginal improvements in the PMI data coalesce into genuine growth.

 “These are baby steps - but they’re heading in the right direction.”

Picture with thanks to Dudley’s Aluminium: Commercial property is perhaps the best performing sector of the construction industry. Dudley’s Aluminium is supporting the construction of a new computing, engineering and technology building for the University of South Wales’ Pontypridd campus. The fabricator will be partnering once again with BAM Construction on the Calon building which will provide teaching, research, and support space for Computing, Engineering, and Technology and bolster the university’s offerings in these subject areas.

www.bloombc.co.uk

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
11th June 2025

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