Construction & Property Overview

Over the last 12 months Staffline’s Construction & Property Division has seen
excellent growth. Construction output from 2015 – 2016 has seen solid growth at 4.4%, this figure fills us with anticipation for 2017.

Over the past 12 months there has been consecutive quarterly increases in
construction output. One huge point to note is that construction output levels have returned to the same level as four years ago. Despite the recent improvements within our sector, levels of output remain below the historical outputs witnessed during Q4 2007.

Increasing confidence within NI private sector is clearly evident with ‘New
Work’ accounting for 75.3% of all output. Another interesting figure is ‘Repair &
Maintenance’ which makes up 24.7% of output has seen an annual decrease of
1.8%. We can relate this to the budgetary constraints at Stormont.

One key driver for NI Construction hiring trends is the success that is enjoyed
by NI based contractors outside of Northern Ireland. It is estimated that almost
half of all the work done by NI companies is outside Northern Ireland. This has
resulted in many employees working for NI based contractors commanding UK
industry standard remuneration packages.

Going into 2017 we have seen a spike in private investment within Northern
Ireland, particularly within Student Housing, Grade A Office Developments
and Hotel developments. Over the last nine months Belfast City Council have
approved nine major hotel developments. We also have 16 planning applications
in the system for student accommodation in Belfast which represents 7,000
rooms. With almost 3000 student beds planning approved throughout the year
and further Grade A Office developments and Hotels Approved.

These figures clearly show that 2017 will be a fiercely competitive year with
Construction companies queuing up to recruit the best talent and our skills gap
only increasing further.