Hung parliament – Keep Calm and Carry On!

The results are in and Britain once again finds itself with a hung parliament. As uncertainty spreads like wildfire as to what this will mean, speculation runs rife regarding how it will affect the construction sector.

Regardless of whether we end up with a coalition government led by Theresa May or a minority government fronted by Jeremy Corbyn, there are bigger fish to fry in the long run! Buildingspecifier investigates:

Brexit

Brexit still looms over us as an industry, and whatever shape the new government takes, they will still need to ensure it happens as smoothly as possible. We need to continue to harness the potential for future infrastructure investment and economic growth, championing ourselves as bastions of innovation and construction prowess.

Although the snap General Election has added more uncertainty and speculation into British economy as a whole, as seen with fluctuations in the value of the pound, 2017 has been a tumultuous year politically. As a country and as an industry we have shown resilience to these challenges and risen to meet them. Let’s keep up the good work!

The election campaigns of all parties have focussed heavily on upcoming Brexit negotiations, and for the construction sector in particular a major priority has been to make sure we still have access to the wealth of skilled labour afforded to us by close ties with Europe.

From an economic perspective, market surveys across both residential and commercial sectors now reveal an overall acceptance of Brexit and people are now looking beyond and seeing the bigger picture. However, there is still ongoing concern about deferral of major investment and recruitment plans, which are understandable but likely to subside in coming weeks and months following on from the distraction of a dramatic election.

Skills

An inescapable truth is that there needs to be a drastic narrowing of the construction skills gap as soon as possible, and today’s result doesn’t negate this harsh fact. The new administration will undoubtedly continue to reinforce the importance of the construction industry to the country’s physical and economic wellbeing, and will need to continue implementing modern technologies such as offsite and modular into our projects nationwide, contributing to further growth of the UK economy by championing us an a lucrative opportunity for investors.

In summary

There is going to be a lot of confusion and insecurity following today’s result; it is vitally important that as an industry we do not lose sight of what we need to achieve as an industry. Today’s result doesn’t change this, it merely adds another dynamic that we will need to evolve and change in order to adapt to. We mustn’t allow procrastination, frustration or insecurity to unravel all of the good things we have achieved over the past few years. We must keep calm and carry on!