Business
Costs rise but Welsh builders boom
SMALL and medium-sized (SME) building firms in Wales enjoyed strong growth in the final quarter of 2017, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Cymru.
Key results from the FMB’s latest State of Trade Survey, which is the only quarterly assessment of the UK-wide SME construction sector, include:
- The pace of growth among Welsh construction SMEs quickened in Q4 2017 compared with the previous quarter;
- Fewer construction SMEs predict rising workloads in the coming three months, down from 41% in the previous quarter to 38% in Q4 2017;
- 87% of builders believe that material prices will rise in the next six months, up from 82% in the previous quarter;
- More than two-thirds (68%) of construction SMEs are struggling to hire bricklayers and 63% are struggling to hire carpenters and joiners;
- Nearly two thirds (61%) of construction SMEs expect salaries and wages to increase in the next six months.
Ifan Glyn, Director of FMB Cymru, said: “Growth among Welsh construction SMEs has now risen for five consecutive quarters. Wales was the only home nation in the UK to experience a faster rate of growth in the final quarter of 2017 when compared to the three months to September. These results are particularly pleasing, and perhaps even surprising, given that rising costs and ever-worsening skills shortages continue to burden Welsh firms. However, there is certainly no room for complacency.
“The skills crisis is getting steadily worse and this is having a knock-on effect on rising salaries and costs. More than two thirds of construction SMEs are struggling to hire bricklayers and this has increased by nearly 10% compared with the three months leading up to September of 2017. The salaries for these scarce skilled tradespeople have rocketed. What’s more, almost 90% of firms believe that material prices will rise in the next six months and this, coupled with a rise in wages, will see firms’ margins squeezed.”
Glyn concluded: “The Welsh Government has set an ambitious target to build 20,000 affordable homes and while the results of the FMB’s research are mainly positive for Wales, it does expose these continuing threats which could undermine these plans. With Brexit on the horizon, we should be aware that the skills shortages could be exacerbated in the coming months.
“Although EU migrants only represent a small proportion of construction workers in Wales, we know that London is heavily reliant on these workers. Indeed, half of London’s construction workers were born outside of the UK.
“If London and the wider South East continue to suffer skills shortages, tradespeople from Wales may choose to work across the border after being tempted by the prospect of higher wages. It is therefore equally important for construction firms across the UK that the Westminster Government treads carefully and delivers a responsive and flexible immigration system to replace the free movement of people. Anything less will be a cause for alarm for the Welsh construction sector.”
The report was compiled by Experian and in Q4 2017, 338 construction SMEs responded to the survey. The results reflect balances – ie the number of firms reporting a rise in workload against the number of firms showing no change or a fall. This gives a qualitative, as opposed to quantitative, overview.
Experian offers this explanation: “Balances reflect the percentage of responses reporting higher workloads against those reporting lower workloads. In some cases, though the chart suggests activity has fallen strongly, a large proportion of respondents indicated there had been no change in workloads compared with the previous quarter.”
Christmas has arrived early for The Range stores in Wales, boasting gigantic displays of all-things festive! The Range is well known for going all out during the Christmas season to create a fun and magical experience full of trees, lights, decorations and much more for their customers to enjoy and this year is no exception. The Range in Swansea surpassed expectations with a display so great, it’s left them shortlisted for ‘Best Christmas Display’ out of all The Range’s 182 stores.
Following extensive consultation with mortgage brokers and customers, Swansea Building Society has unveiled a new mortgage product specifically designed to offer medical professionals enhanced terms and a better deal.
The Medical Professional Mortgage Product is designed specifically for cases where the applicant, or one of the applicants in the case of a joint mortgage, is a medical doctor, surgeon or dentist. They might be looking to purchase a property, re-mortgage from another lender, or raise capital against equity in a property.
This new product also allows customers to borrow a higher amount against their income compared with standard mortgage products, subject to meeting affordability rules. Sole customers will be able to borrow up to 5.5 times their sole income (the standard criteria is a multiple of 4.5) while joint customers will be able to borrow up to 5.0 times their joint income (the standard criteria is a multiple of 3.5).
The new product was made available to customers from October 1, 2020.
Alun Williams, chief executive of Swansea Building Society, said:
“We are constantly reviewing what we do based on feedback from customers, brokers and our wider analysis of the mortgage landscape to ensure we are competitive where relevant in the current market.
“In this case, we wanted to develop a product that would reflect the current and future earnings potential of some of our clients who work in the medical profession. We are delighted to be able to roll this product out; we have already had very good feedback from our network of brokers.”
BAUER MEDIA is proud to today detail a new local initiative that Greatest Hits Radio and The Wave will launch within Swansea and South Wales aimed at helping local workers, charities and businesses as they deal with the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Swansea Sound will lead the ‘Getting You Back to Work’ campaign, as it relaunches as Greatest Hits Radioin September. The scheme, which will also run across sister station The Wave, aims to promote local job opportunities both on-air and online. Local employers will be encouraged to submit vacancies for inclusion, allowing them to reach a wide audience of local job-seekers free of charge. Job vacancy bulletins will be broadcast four times a day to local audiences and will be promoted on the relevant Greatest Hits Radio and The Wave websites.
As Swansea Sound gets set to join the Greatest Hits Radio Network, it is also announced today that it will welcome esteemed broadcaster Simon Mayo to its line-up. The former BBC Radio 2 host currently hosts a daytime programme on Greatest Hits Radio’s classical sister station, Scala Radio. However, with this move he’ll be returning to his popular music roots as he presents a new weekend show. ‘The Album Show with Simon Mayo’ will be a weekly three-hour programme dedicated to the greatest albums of all time, including features that explore listeners’ record collections and a weekly Classic Album Countdown. This show aims to celebrate the good times and great memories albums bring as Simon plays their Greatest Hits.
Greatest Hits Radio, which will officially launch across Swansea and South Wales on 1st September, offers listeners the biggest songs of the 70s, 80s and 90s, celebrating music from iconic artists like Blondie, Queen, George Michael, Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Elton John and Whitney Houston. The station’s presenters will include a local weekday line-up as well as legendary broadcaster’s Mark Goodier, Paul Gambaccini, Simon Mayo, Janice Long and Pat Sharp on weekends.
Online applications for the ‘Getting You Back to Work’ campaign will open on the 1st September 2020. Employers looking to participate should email jobs@greatesthitsradio.co.ukfor more information on how to apply.
Graham Bryce, Group Managing Director – Hits Radio Network Brand,said, “As we look to the future, we’re very excited to add Simon Mayo to our weekend line-up. Simon’s track record speaks for itself and to have someone of his experience and status join the network adds a new dimension to the Greatest Hits presenter line-up.
“Alongside this, our stations continue to be committed to the local community and we’re proud to launch this initiative to provide a valuable boost at a time of great uncertainty and hardship. We know the pandemic has hit communities across the UK hard, and we want to use our privileged position to promote opportunities.”
