£700 billion boost for UK infrastructure

The UK construction industry is set to receive a whopping £700bn over the next ten years,  in what has been coined the ‘National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline’. 

While the news has been widely well-received by leaders in the sector, there have been concerns regarding the NICP’s lack of long-term clarity. 

The development, which has been eagerly awaited by the construction industry, was announced by the Treasury and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority on Friday 2 February.

Since November, Mark Reynolds, co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) and chairman/CEO of Mace have actively been urging the chancellor to release the document.

Steve Beechey, group public Sector director at Wates remarked: “A long-term pipeline that gives industry certainty is something we have long called for – we hope [this] publication is a statement of intent that this and future Governments will build on.” 

Alasdair Reisner, CEO of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), added: "One of the biggest issues currently facing contractors is a lack of certainty about future investment in infrastructure, driven by changing policy and tightening finances for clients.

"As such, we welcome today’s publication of the Infrastructure & Construction Pipeline, providing clarity on what is – and what isn’t – likely to feature in the industry’s order books in the coming years."

Richard Robinson, President of AtkinsRéalis for the UK & Ireland, expressed that it would offer "a welcome view of planned investment in the short term but a rather uncertain picture of project investment” over the next 10 years.

“Whilst longer term uncertainty is somewhat inevitable, the known scale of infrastructure transformation required in the coming decades is not currently represented in the pipeline,” said Robinson, who is also deputy chair of the CLC.

“Our industry now has a responsibility to demonstrate that we can deliver planned infrastructure programmes as efficiently as possible to increase productivity, boost investor confidence, and deliver growth across the UK’s regions, alongside the skills and jobs required to achieve this."

For a better of what the National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline really means for the construction industry, check out this fantastically insightful blog from Gather.