Civil engineering contractors say the way to stabilise the economy in the wake of the Brexit vote is to get moving on major infrastructure projects. The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) said ministers should “proceed with caution” in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union to stabilise
First comments from Lucian Cook, Savills UK head of residential research says: “With the results just in, it is impossible to predict what will happen to the UK housing market with any great accuracy until we know what Brexit will mean for the wider economy. What we do know from
Following on from the success of last year’s roadshow, Napit’s recent announcement Expo will once again be touring England and Wales has been met with excitement in the industry. Now heading to ten locations from September to December, they are set to bring even more technical knowhow to as many
Bosses of the High Speed Rail 2 project have announced a new route through South Yorkshire that will see Meadowhall station scrapped in favour of Sheffield city centre. The new route will run east towards the M18 before it re-joins the original route south of the M62, meanwhile high speed
Auction House has declared “business as usual” in the aftermath of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. The firm says that any uncertainty following the Brexit vote has had no impact on sales and has reported performance levels close to those seen in 2015. Auction House’s figures for last
Civil engineering contractors say the way to stabilise the economy in the wake of the Brexit vote is to get moving on major infrastructure projects. The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) said ministers should “proceed with caution” in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union to stabilise the economy. However, the economic uncertainty could discourage investors that were previously being wooed for major projects, it fears. CECA head of external affairs Marie-Claude Hemming said: “After a lengthy campaign, the U.K. public has voted to leave the European Union. “The change in circumstance has unsettled the markets which, if unchecked, may discourage long term investment in UK infrastructure. “The UK must act to secure its economy, but growth will only be delivered if supported by world-class infrastructure. “CECA therefore calls on Ministers to now to first stabilise Government, then re-establish their commitment to the projects outlined in the National Infrastructure Plan, most notably HS2 and a third runway at Heathrow in order to maintain economic confidence following such a substantial change in the UK’s relationship with the European Union and the rest of the world.” This article was published on 24 Jun 2016 (last updated on 24 Jun 2016). Source link
First comments from Lucian Cook, Savills UK head of residential research says: “With the results just in, it is impossible to predict what will happen to the UK housing market with any great accuracy until we know what Brexit will mean for the wider economy. What we do know from lead indicators, such as the RICS survey, is that uncertainty pre-referendum impacted on new buyer enquires. A continuation of that uncertainty is likely to pull back price growth and transactions in the short term. “The prospect of an increase in mortgage interest rates and a reduction in wage growth is expected to create greater affordability pressures over the medium term, particularly in London where borrowers have stretched themselves further. However the precise impact depends on how severely these affordability drivers are affected. An increase in effective interest rates will also have heightened relevance for mortgaged buy to let investors, given the progressive reduction in tax relief they will get on their mortgage payments in the future. Nonetheless the inherent undersupply of housing in the UK should continue to underpin the market. “The prime markets, that typically are more volatile, may well see a greater short term impact. However, along the line, a fall in the value of sterling should bring some international buyers back into the market, albeit with potentially less gusto than in previous downturns given higher stamp duty costs.” Source link
Following on from the success of last year’s roadshow, Napit’s recent announcement Expo will once again be touring England and Wales has been met with excitement in the industry. Now heading to ten locations from September to December, they are set to bring even more technical knowhow to as many installers as possible. Napit Expo on the Road has been designed using attendee feedback from last year. The new workshop format features expert knowledge on installation and inspection based on topics visitors have requested advice on. Confirmed partners include big name manufacturers Schneider Electric and Scolmore, alongside Napit’s specialist membership service providers, Insurance, Training, Legal, the newly launched Napit Drive for vehicle hire and Napit Wealth for workplace pensions and financial services, and much more. Napit head of marketing and communications, Jenny Gaunt, said “We are thrilled to announce our supporting partner line-up. All the companies listed have been handpicked to ensure that our visitors receive expert technical advice on tools, equipment and services, all relevant to our visitor’s needs in-line with the workshops on offer.” Gaunt continued: “The popularity of Napit Expo continues to grow year-on-year, with both members and interested non-members and a large part of that is down to the expertise that our partners have to offer visitors.” Napit are currently in discussions with further prospective exhibitors and are set to announce their final partners in coming weeks, along with many more updates which will be announced via the Napit Expo website. Source link
Bosses of the High Speed Rail 2 project have announced a new route through South Yorkshire that will see Meadowhall station scrapped in favour of Sheffield city centre. The new route will run east towards the M18 before it re-joins the original route south of the M62, meanwhile high speed trains will use the existing track access to Sheffield and will stop at the city’s Midland station. HS2 Ltd’s David Higgins believed that the change will save over £1 billion and result in journey times to London of around one hour and 20 minutes. The new route which has been proposed would see up to trains leave every hour from the HS2 line near to Clay Cross, in Derbyshire, and join the existing line into Sheffield before re-joining the HS2 line to the east of Grimethorpe. Higgins said that one of the most difficult challenges of the HS2 scheme was the location of the station in South Yorkshire because of the region’s flood plains and topography. When plans were announced to build at Meadowhall in 2013, they were met with fierce criticism, while Sheffield City Council said that a station in the city centre would create more than 6,000 jobs while increasing usage and generating up to £5 billion more for the local economy. However, HS2 has now said that the Meadowhall site would not reduce journey times between the cities of the north, which was one of the targets of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project, and could cause road congestion issues. When asked whether they could have foreseen these issues, Mr Higgins responded by saying: “I don’t think so. I’m not sure everyone in the whole of South Yorkshire would have accepted the spur line. “We had to work through the options and solutions in order to reach this decision and the more and more work we did the more complex Meadowhall became.”
Auction House has declared “business as usual” in the aftermath of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. The firm says that any uncertainty following the Brexit vote has had no impact on sales and has reported performance levels close to those seen in 2015. Auction House’s figures for last month were very similar to those of last year, with only eight fewer lots sold (252) but a significantly better success rate of 81%, which is an increase of 4% on last year’s numbers. The figures for the first six months of this year suggest a rise across the board in comparison with the same time frame of last year, with 1,513 lots sold of the 1,959 offered, which is a 77.2% success rate and has raised a total of £208.6 million. Auction House Founding Director, Roger Lake, said that most areas saw “business as usual” in the auction marker in June despite the economic uncertainty that was brought about as a result of the Brexit vote. He also declared that a total of five of its sales in June reported a success rate of 100% and insisted that they are a results based business whose performances continue to be impressive. Lake added: “Our key strength lies in affordable volume stock in the regions, where people tend to buy for a purpose rather than a profit. So we predict that these areas will be least affected by any fall-out from Brexit that may follow.” Although he did concede that there are sure to be challenging times ahead, he went on to suggest that any negative impact would not last long as long as interest rates remain stable and mortgages remain available. He explained that the company’s July entries are steady, with the total projected to be just 5% down on 2015.
