Levack’s warning on ‘suicidal tendering’

THE LEADER of the Scottish Building Federation last night called for an end to the “suicidal tendering” hitting the prospects of Scots construction firms.

Michael Levack said native companies were losing out to those without a track record of operating in Scotland.

He was speaking after figures from the Office for National Statistics showed a 12% year-onyear drop in the value of new construction work in the UK during the three months to October.

“Falls in publicsector output have been particularly dramatic, suggesting cuts to capital investment are now hitting the industry hard,” Mr Levack said.

He welcomed the measures outlined by Chancellor George Osborne in a bid to stimulate the construction industry earlier this month, but warned they would take time to have an effect.

He called for VAT cuts for repairs and improvements to provide an “immediate” stimulus, and for a revision of the Scottish Infrastructure Investment Plan to give “greater cer tainty” over a future pipeline of work.

The ONS data did give a little cheer, with a 3.8% month-on-month increase in construction output in October.

E ve r y sub-sector recorded positive growth except public housing and public non-housing repair and maintenance, the ONS said, with infrastructure projects performing strongly.

Despite the strong month-on-month performance, construction output was still down by 5.1% year-on-year.

Nonetheless, analysts said the figures could open the door to the sector making a “very rare” positive contribution to overall economic growth in the final three months of the year.