Building Weekly Digest: 5 August

It's been hard at times this week to see past the negative headlines: latest construction data from purchasing managers revealed activity had fallen into negative territory for the first time since January 2021, while a host of consultants have been issuing warnings about challenging trading conditions ahead. But there were some positives, with a clutch of firms reporting strong financial results and the team here at Assemble Media Group , which includes our sister titles Housing Today and Building Design. , launching an education and healthcare event for built environment professionals. Check it all out below.

Activity slows for first time in 18 months

For the first time in 18 months construction saw a fall drop off in activity during July , with sector data from the S&P Global / CIPS - The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply revealing that output was at its lowest since January 2021. Rising inflation, fragile?consumer confidence and higher interest rates blamed for the contraction. Industry figures such as SCAPE 's Mark Robinson said the timing of the drop off was particularly concerning given July is usually a peak for construction. Given this backdrop it is perhaps unsurprising that both Linesight and Turner & Townsend have issued warnings on different fronts, with the former saying global market uncertainty could keep construction project costs high despite a return to stability for material prices and the latter that supply chain insolvencies could rival inflation as a threat to project delivery . Gleeds also published a report that revealed rising materials and labour costs meant contractors are fearing a downturn and are collaborating more in a bid to cope with inflation .

Why are we struggling to make modular work?

It should be a no-brainer. If modular construction can save so much carbon, then surely, one way or another, it needs to succeed? But this year has seen a succession of firms such as Caledonian Modular , House by Urban Splash and Mid Group going to the wall and doubts persisting among many more traditional builders. Tom Lowe looks at the issues involved and talks to those who are determined to see it succeed .

All about the money

There has been a series of financial updates this week. On Monday, specialist first-time buyer developer Pocket Living announced it had fallen to a pre-tax loss of ￡18.9m after encountering build and planning problems on a number of its developments, while Tuesday saw Groupe Bouygues report in its half year results that revenue was up to €13.7bn (￡11.5bn) from €12.8bn (￡10.7bn) . Taylor Wimpey plc reported interim profit up 16.3% on 2021 despite a dip in turnover , announcing pre-tax profit of ￡335m, up from ￡288m. And Chelmsford-based housebuilder Stonebond , which was founded by sons of the Countryside founder Alan Cherry, posted pre-tax profit of ￡6.1m a nine-fold increase on the previous year. Finally, Morgan Sindall Group plc said a buoyant fit out market had seen it perform ahead of expectations once again, posting pre-tax profit of ￡56.9m in its half-year results. Meanwhile it said it could be hit by an extra ￡50m bill to fix fire safety issues as its urban regeneration arm Muse ?could be included in the scope of the cladding pledge.

Why we need evidence-based design to reach climate and wellbeing targets

It's only been a few weeks since the UK sweltered through some of its hottest temperatures on record and reports have shown that we might not have eight more years before we see more heatwaves of the kind we saw this summer.?Given we are only eight years away from 2030, we certainly don’t have the time it will take for higher powers to get their disparate agendas in order and treat the climate crisis with the urgency it needs. In this piece dRMM and Quality of Life Foundation 's Professor Sadie Morgan OBE explains how given these circumstances we must allow facts to help our industry take matters into its own hands – and work hard towards building more sustainably because we?know?we have to.

Industry frets tough times ahead

We took a look ahead this week courtesy of a market forecast from 艾奕康 's Michael Hubbard. He found that while output has recovered almost to pre-pandemic levels, driven by an acceleration in infrastructure, private housebuilding and private industrial work, industry optimism is. Hubbard said the industry is increasingly cautious about the future in the face of ongoing inflation, recruitment challenges and Brexit-related red tape . And if you want to keep up to date with the latest inflationary pressures keep an eye on head of content Carl Brown 's trends and prices data dashboard - which is your one-stop-shop for all the most recent price changes and trends in the building materials, energy, housing and construction labour markets.

New event launched

On Monday we announced a brand new event Winning Work in Education & Healthcare that will take place across 14 & 15 September. The first day of the event is all about the role construction has to play in the education sector looking at everything from primary schools to higher education facilities. The day's speakers include: Mark Brown FRSA, AMRS from TG Escapes Eco-Buildings , Ryder Architecture 's Richard Wise , Paul Ruddick of Reds10 , Raynee De Zoysa from Collida , the Department for Education 's Jane Balderstone and Richard H Branch MRICS of Arcadis .

On day two we focus in on healthcare, looking at later living and specialist care housing, as well as the balance between the backlog of work needed to bring the NHS estate up to scratch and building 40 new hospitals by 2030. Second day speakers include: Shane Paull from McCarthy Stone , Amy France of Forsters LLP , Guy Barlow from The Manser Practice Architects + Designers , ??♀?Victoria Head ?? MCIOB from Archus and Michèle Wheeler of Mace . All the sessions are free to attend! Find out more here

Thanks for catching up and see you next week!