The (PMI), construction Purchasing Managers’ Index also rose from 53.1 in March to 58.2 in April, where any figure   above 50 is an indication of expansion.

Incidentally, this is the highest PMI figure since September 2007, when the credit crunch and wider recession was starting to take hold.  The Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply David Noble, said: “It is encouraging to see the construction sector show signs of recuperation for the second month running….suggests that the whole UK economic recovery has real substance.”

Whilst, growth in construction and indeed manufacturing are usually both indicators of greater economic prosperity, the general feeling in the construction industry at least, is one of caution. Activity may well be up over a two month period but with political and wider UK and Euro zone economic instability and austerity measures coming into play, growing talk of a double dip recession, puts the recent construction figures into another perspective.

In the North West, brickwork suppliers, concrete suppliers, labourers and numerous other contractors in the construction industry sighed relief when talk of the coalition government scrapping the new £400m Royal Liverpool hospital were laid to rest and public backing was confirmed once more.

The new hospital will take about three years and nine months to construct. This will then be followed by a further three years of work during which the existing hospital and associated buildings will be emptied and demolished and the site cleared and landscaped.

According to recent press reports, the UK’s biggest two contractors (by turnover), Balfour Beatty and Carillion, are both understood to have expressed their interest in the deal to design, build, finance and operate the new facility. Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust are due to shortlist three firms on 13th July.

In addition to improving health care in Liverpool, such a large scale project has a profound effect on the local economies. We can only hope that other such projects, planned in Liverpool and Manchester, also get the opportunity to be built.

Our reputation in the construction industry is renowned for quality, safety and completing the project to budget and in time.

With this in mind, S&K Brickwork have just launched our new website and online presence to showcase some of our projects and to blog/comment about the construction industry in general and what developments are happening within the North West.

Keith Daley

Managing Director