Featured Region: West Midlands

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

The West Midlands consists of the following Counties: Hereford & Worcester, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands.

The construction industry in the West Midlands has enjoyed two years of recovery, with increases in the value of project starts in 2010 and 2011. This good performance was driven by increases in private housing and retail construction – a trend which could continue over the next two years. However, the positive performance was also fuelled by an increase in health and education funding, and this will now be greatly reduced. To maintain the good flow of work, the region will need other parts of the private sector to step up.

Nationally, we are forecasting strong growth in the value of office and industrial starts this year. The West Midlands has missed out on any increases so far, but with signs that business activity is picking up in the area an increase in the demand for commercial facilities could follow.

We expect that the value of project starts will decline by 3% this year, under the negative pressures from government cuts. However, a continued private sector recovery could then push starts higher during 2013.