Those working in the built environment are often compared to farmers, perceived as perpetually complaining about their lot. Cups are always half empty, and looking on the bright side is seen as a betrayal of the building code or perhaps as tempting fate.  

This may be a caricature, but what is true is that many of us are horrified at how the UK has declined from being the fastest-growing economy in Europe to one of the worst performers in such a short space of time. The latest figures from both the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Construction Products Association (CPA) show clearly the harmful effect Brexit is having on our sector. 

The CPA revealed a fall of one-fifth in construction output year-on-year for main contractors in the first three months of 2019; it fell by 17% for civil engineers and by 7% for SME operators. The ONS meanwhile found there was zero growth in new work during that period – and the worst time was March, the month the UK was due to exit the EU, when new work contracted by 1.8%. 

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