With the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), forecasting that the UK’s recovery will gather pace over the next couple of years, optimism is spreading across the UK construction and engineering sectors, as CBI President Sir Mike Rake <a target="_blank" href="this">http://www.economicvoice.com/business-is-not-the-enemy-cbi-president-si… week told the CBI’s annual conference</a> in London that “a lot has been achieved in the last year and firms are ready to invest.”<br><br>
The<a target="_blank" href="http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2013/11/03/construction-to-drive-st…; CBI forecasts</a> that in 2014 and 2015 the current nascent economic recovery will gain strength, suggesting that the UK will see 2.4% GDP growth in 2014 and 2.6% growth in 2015.<br><br>
This optimism is, at least in part, fueled by continuing strong growth from the construction market as demonstrated by the<a target="_blank" href="http://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/concrete-evidence-buil…; latest figures from the Markit/CIPS Index of Purchasing Managers</a>. With anything above 50 indicating growth, the index measure 59.4 in October, up from 58.9 in September, was a surprise to the markets, who had expected a leveling out. Strong growth was seen largely across the board, with the biggest increase again coming from house building. Overall, construction output in the UK rose by 2.5% in the period June to September 2013, the quickest rate of growth since the second quarter of 2010.<br><br>
According to Markit economist Tim Moore, “UK construction output continues to rise like a phoenix from the ashes, with housing, commercial and civil engineering activity all seeing strong rates of expansion at the start of the fourth quarter.” <br>