Hand on heart, how certain are you really, about the growth of your business over the next year?

Spiralling costs, caused by labour and materials shortages and more recently the war in Ukraine, are making things tough – and that was before the chaos in the financial markets unleashed by Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget last month.

So where does that leave you if you are a consultant in the construction industry? Our Top 150 consultants survey this year reveals strong year-on-year growth and companies eyeing expansion following the pandemic freeze, but scratch the surface and there is a huge amount of gloom and uncertainty about the future.

“A period of unprecedented tendering activity so far in 2022 could have the edge taken off it as decisions are delayed and projects decelerate, because of pricing uncertainty,” warns Alinea in its response to our annual survey and sentiment questionnaire.

Let’s start with the good news, though.