It is hard to believe that another year has passed us by here at Plant & Civil Engineer; it has been a year of many highs and lows, of lockdowns, social distancing, material and skills shortages, and so much more, but as we enter a New Year we can look forward to the future with growing confidence.
While challenges will undoubtedly remain, our industry continues to be resilient and optimistic going forward. Indeed, a number of surveys show that UK construction works remain strong despite material price inflation and labour shortages.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reports that while the pace of total activity slipped slightly from +38% in Q2 to +33% in Q3, respondents are reporting strong levels of construction work, which is mostly led by infrastructure projects – with energy, roads and water revealing the strongest outputs. They say forward-looking indicators point to the sector continuing to experience strong growth over the course of the next twelve months.
However, that has to be balanced by news from the Federation of Master Builders who report that a shocking 89% of local builders have reported having to delay jobs due to a lack of materials or skilled tradespeople. Adding to the pressure facing the industry, 97% of builders have reported skyrocketing material prices and expect this to continue into this last quarter of 2021.
So, what have we for you in this issue? We have all our regular features as well as a focus on crushing & screening and compact equipment, plus our View from the Cab series looks at a Hyundai R25Z- 9AK and a Bobcat T40.180SLP Telehandler.
Well, that’s it for now; we trust you will have a well deserved break over the festive period and a successful and prosperous New Year. A big ‘thank you’ to all who have loyally supported us over the year that has been, and together let’s continue the journey in 2022.
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for the Nov-Dec 2021 issue of Plant & Civil Engineer Magazine.
