Featured Sector: Education

The education sector is recovering from a sharp fall in activity during 2012, during which new starts fell by 27% as the Building Schools for the Future programme ended. Education starts during the final quarter of 2013 were 35% higher than a year before, and starts during the whole of 2013 were 19% higher than 2012.

Starts in the latest three month period to February 2014 were flat on a year ago, but this is likely to be a temporary stall with several positive long term drivers of activity expected to fuel further opportunities in the sector in 2014 and 2015.

Government funding programmes are leading through to increased construction activity. The Priority Schools Building Programme will gather pace during 2014, and the need to provide extra primary school places, as well as growing pressure on secondary capacity in London boroughs, means a continued stream of funding for construction.

Universities will also continue to expand investment into the facilities they need to attract students, with the removal of the cap on student numbers announced in the Autumn statement set to boost Universities’ incomes further.