Slightly serious but nevertheless important note for you this week
The word ‘Brexit’ conjures up all sorts of uncertainties and worries in everyone’s minds, but in the world of construction, there are lots of things to consider. As a whole, the majority of the construction industry would have liked the UK to remain within the European Union with only 15% of construction executives choosing to exit, and the reasons were pretty straight forward. Access to labour and trading markets are big issues, so how will Brexit affect things for construction?
First thing’s first, no one is really sure how Brexit will affect anything, if at all, so these are just suggestions for how things might go if everything goes the way we think it will.
Loss of EU workers
If the country doesn’t retain access to the European single market after Brexit, then the UK construction industry is set to lose more than 175,000 EU workers (roughly 8% of the current workforce), not to mention the hundreds of thousands more skilled and unskilled workers who will find it easier to work in countries within the EU instead of Britain.
Increasing costs for tools, materials and projects
Thanks to the EU, UK construction companies find it easy to import materials, tools and resources for projects from EU countries without much hassle. When Brexit takes effect, the UK may find it more difficult to make trade deals without the backing of the EU, which means higher costs in all aspects of the construction industry.
Loss of EU Funding
Obviously, a huge impact of not being in the EU any more is that UK will no longer be eligible for EU funding such as the European Structural Investment Fund, European Regional Development Funding and Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment In City Areas. This loss of funding means that innovation and regeneration in construction will be stilted, unless the UK comes up with grants of its own.
Mmmm interesting eh! I think that the best we can all do, is keep going and hope for the best. There is a school of thought that we may be better off. Let me know your thoughts if you get a min, or sign up to our Newsletter Here
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Until next time
Bye for now
Chuck