Featured Region: North West

Underlying value of construction projects starting on site. (Excludes individual projects of more than £100 million and framework agreements).

The value of project starts is still 30% below the 2007 pre-crisis peak in the North West and 2012 has presented little evidence to suggest that any change in the regions downbeat fortunes has occurred. Last year, the North West suffered as a weak economy combined with government austerity. There were declining values of health, education and social housing project starts, while the increase in industrial and retail building was not enough to compensate. This split has continued through to 2012; sectors which rely on public spending decline while private sectors are, by and large, increasing off a low base. We estimate the value of underlying starts for the full year 2012 to decline by 2%, however some recovery is expected in 2013 when we forecast starts to increase by 5%. The North West consists of the following Counties: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Isle of Man.