Slowly does it: where is this elusive growth for construction?

By Dave Rogers2025-08-08T06:00:00

Economic recovery is proving much slower than construction businesses had hoped but some experts point to signs the long term outlook will improve, eventually …

Two different sets of data about the health of the construction sector came out this week – one much more gloomy than the other.

The bellwether S&P Global UK Construction Purchasing Managers Index slumped to 44.3 in July, down from 48.8 in June, which, the report says, was a reverse last seen when the country was in the grip of its first covid-19 lockdown more than five years ago.

It was the steepest fall since May 2020 with all three sectors – housebuilding, civil engineering and commercial – going backwards, with buyers citing site delays, lower volumes of incoming new business and weaker customer confidence for the drop. It added that optimism for the year ahead had also dwindled.

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