The construction industry across the UK only amounts to about 7% of the island nations gross domestic product. But, even as a small part of their overall economy, construction output is helping lessen the GDP shrinkage. Second quarter figures for construction in the UK indicate "output fell only 3% rather than the 3.9% reported earlier".
You can read the details here, and see how the numbers suggest that the construction sector won't be an anchor, dragging down the overall UK GDP. Great news right? Not really. I think the bigger message here is that globally and regionally, the construction economy looks flat. And that means companies will continue to need to better manage productivity, efficiency to ensure good project margins.
The global economy and more specifically the UK and European economic conditions will be a topic of discussion during the SAP EC&O Industry Value Network Forum, coming up on October 18th in London. You can find the details.