After a tough few years for the construction industry, there are signs that in Yorkshire and the Humber, the sector may finally be starting to recover. According to the latest research by R3, the insolvency trade body, construction is performing better in the region than in many other parts of the UK.
In January, Yorkshire and the Humber had the third lowest level of construction firms with a higher than normal risk of insolvency with just 24.3% (4,219 firms) in this position compared with a national figure of 26%. While the percentage of construction firms in the region at higher than normal risk saw a slight rise of 1% since last month, in the previous two months it experienced slight falls of around 0.3%.
Yorkshire and the Humber was also among the top performing regions in the manufacturing sector with only 17.4% of businesses at higher than normal risk compared with the national figure of 20%. The hotel sector in the region also experienced a continuing decrease in businesses at risk, falling by 2.7% to 16.4% compared with 18.5% across the UK.
R3 uses research compiled from Bureau van Dijk’s ‘Fame’ database of company information to track the number of businesses in key regional sectors that have a heightened risk of entering insolvency in the next year.
“The construction industry was amongst those hardest hit by the recession and has proved slow to recover,” comments William Ballmann, chair of R3 in Yorkshire and partner at Gateley LLP. “While it is too early to talk of a sustained improvement, any positive signs are encouraging. As one of the prime drivers for economic recovery, it is good to see that construction in our region is performing relatively well compared with many other parts of the UK.”
He continues: “Other sectors in Yorkshire, particularly manufacturing and hotels, are continuing to put in a strong performance and it is hoped that the recovery will prove less patchy as we build on last year’s economic growth.”
Photo shows: William Ballmann
