Construction sector 'reaches bottom'

Office design news from Morgan Lovell

Published on 11-12-2009

The construction industry in the UK would appear to have reached its lowest point and has begun a recovery, it has been claimed.

Construction News business editor Nick Whitten said technically the office interior and commercial property construction sector is now out of recession after output levels grew last month for the first time this year.

He commented: "You have got to come out at some point - you have got to hit the bottom at some point - and so now, technically according to this, we have hit the bottom."

However, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced yesterday (December 10th) that construction orders fell by five per cent in the three months to October 2009.

ONS figures also showed orders in the 12 months to October 2009 fell by 19 per cent compared with the previous 12 months, while orders in the three months to October 2009 fell by six per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.

Posted by Paul Kelly.