黑洞社区

The number of tender opportunities in August plunged by more than two thirds compared to the same month last year, research by Builders鈥� Conference has found.

Just 246 construction jobs were up for grabs last month, a drop of 69% compared to the same month last year.

The number of individual contract awards was also down, with the 418 jobs handed out last month being 19% lower than in August 2019.

But in brighter news for the industry, the total value of contracts awarded last month was nearly 40% higher than in August 2019.

The value of construction contract awards last month reached 拢4.8bn, 39% higher than the 拢3.3bn awarded last August.

Hertfordshire contractor J Reddington secured the highest value jobs with two wins in Nine Elms worth a combined 拢380m. Redrow came in second place last month with 13 awards totalling 拢276m, including a 拢50m housing scheme in Oxfordshire called The Lawns.

The number of contracts awarded has been increasing steadily since May, raising hopes that the tender figures for August, which typically sees a lull in available work, will be a blip.

In an update, Build UK said the data 鈥漸nderlines the continued impact of coronavirus on contracts and tender opportunities.鈥�

Analysis by 黑洞社区 last month showed that the number of public sector contract notices, contract awards and prior information notices published in the Official Journal had fallen by a quarter in 2020 compared to 2019.

The bulk of the period surveyed this year coincided with the covid-19 pandemic.

The analysis showed that the industry staged a brief recovery in February after a slump in January, likely caused by uncertainty over Brexit, before beginning a steep decline at the onset of the pandemic in March.