Civils hit by slump in tender invites

A substantial decline in invitations to tender is reported by firms responding to the latest workload trends survey from the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors.

John Hackett, director general of the FCEC, this week described the findings of the federation's spring survey as 'very worrying'.

He explained: 'What this survey tells us is that there is a continued slight decline in overall workload and in employment. And there has been a weakening of contractors' order books, plus somewhat faster cost increases.

'But the big worry is the evidence of a marked slowdown in invitations to tender for contractors of all sizes and in all regions. We have the lowest percentage reporting more invitations to tender and the highest reporting fewer invitations in any April in the history of the survey, which goes back to 1980.'

Hackett added that there had only twice been worse figures for tender invites in any month in the past 15 years.

The survey shows that it is the smaller civil engineering firms who are currently bearing the brunt of the sector's steady decline. The downturn is hitting all regions, with the notable exception of the North West of England which is bucking the trend both in terms of recent performance and short-term prospects.

Overall indications of current order books show little change since January with a majority of firms reporting a decline over the past year. And, with invitations to tender drying up, there is again a substantial majority of firms expecting a declining workload over the next 12 months.