Rise in use of government’s Constructionline list chimes with data that says new orders rose 22% between first and second quarters of the year

Demand for suppliers registered on the government list Constructionline rose 15% in the three-month period ending in September from the previous quarter. Activity was up 10% on the same period last year.

The figures chime with data from business information service, Experian, which said that new orders in construction had grown by 22% between the first and second quarters of the year, owing to public sector spending.

Constructionline said the figures might herald a possible uplift in demand. Sales and marketing director, Philip Prince, said: “While conditions in the industry remain challenging, the public housing, infrastructure and maintenance sectors have continued to grow and this has been mirrored in the growth in our client activity on the Constructionline database.”

More than 18,000 pre-qualified contractors and consultants are on the database, which is a public-private partnership between the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Capita Business Services.