TFT Cardiff's John Newton Comment: Markit/CIPS survey16th June 2012

John Newton, partner at Tuffin Ferraby Taylor’s (TFT’s) Cardiff office had this to say in repsonse to the Markit/CIPS survey:

“The three month low in the growth of the UK construction industry is reflected here in Wales where major development/infrastructure works continue to remain stagnant due to a general nervousness about the global economy, its affect on the UK and the availability of finance as a result.

Wales has seen some growth in manufacturing, but the service sector continues to slow reflecting the wider economy. Housebuilders have begun to gear up sites across the region, however, we are still to see any major thrust in construction activity as potential buyers, particularly first timers, still struggle with obtaining mortgages and remain anxious about their jobs.

There is some activity as Landlords continue to ‘work their existing assets’ in an attempt to retain their existing tenants and to attract new ones where voids occur, which has resulted in some smaller scale refurbishment and reconfiguration projects, as we have seen at Cardiff’s Capital Shopping Centre.  The net value of such projects is, however, not on the scale of previous new build activity.”