Large and medium-sized architecture practices are reporting their most upbeat outlook in a year.
According to the latest RIBA Future Trends survey bigger design firms are in positive mood as commercial work starts to rise.
By contrast, smaller design practices, those employing up to ten people, saw confidence fall deeper into the red blaming declining private sector housing work and nervous clients.
The gear shift to create a two-speed sector impacted the overall forecast for all practices.
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RIBA’s September Future Workload Index slipped into negative territory at -2, its first fall below zero since January and continuing the downward trend seen since midsummer.
Big players remain firmly on the front foot, with their combined Workload Index leaping to +39, the strongest reading in twelve months. Nearly half of these firms (46%) expect workloads to grow over the next three months, only 7% predict a fall, and the rest expect no change.
Small practices tell a very different story. Their Workload Index dropped to -8, down from -5 in August, with just 18% expecting an increase and one in four anticipating a decline.
Across the regions, London (+9) and the North of England (+13) are still positive, but the rest of the country has turned downbeat. The Midlands and East Anglia tumbled to -16, Wales and the West slipped to -2, and the South of England slid to -9.
Overall workloads are now 9% lower than this time last year – underlining a market where big commercial practices are holding steady while small domestic specialists face another tough winter.
from Construction Enquirer https://ift.tt/sFYHvwZ