Scotland’s construction firms carried out work worth £10.7billion during 2013, official figures showed yesterday.
The total value of contracts was up by 10% on the year before, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which also reported 5.4% year-on-year growth for the industry across the whole UK during January.
The ONS changed its previous estimate of 0.2% UK construction output growth during the final quarter of last year to a 0.2% drop.
But it said the move would not have an impact on overall gross domestic product growth data for the quarter, when the economy grew by 0.7%.
While the latest figures suggest Britain’s economic recovery is in full swing, economics professor Brian Ashcroft of Strathclyde University’s Fraser of Allander Institute has warned of a north-south divide opening up in construction.
Fraser of Allander’s latest snapshot of the Scottish economy published earlier this week showed construction industry growth lagged behind the rest of the UK during the third quarter of 2013.
Prof Ashcroft said: “Performance (in Scotland) appears to have weakened relative to the UK from the start of last year.”
The Scottish Building Federation (SBF) said infrastructure and private commercial work grew strongly north of the border last year, but the value of housebuilding to the industry declined despite initiatives aimed at improving mortgage availability and boosting sales.
SBF said the value of public sector housing fell to its lowest level since 2007.
Vaughan Hart, the industry body’s managing director, said: “It’s clearly very welcome news that the value of Scottish industry output rose by almost £1billion last year.
“Recovery in Scotland is being led by (Scottish) Government investment in major infrastructure projects such as the Queensferry Crossing and significant growth in the private commercial sector. This is a very different recovery to that being experienced south of the border, where housebuilding has been the best-performing sector. The value of housing output in Scotland actually fell by £141million in 2013.”
Brian McQuade, Scotland and north-east England managing director at the construction arm of Kier Group, said: “The (UK) construction sector has grown for three consecutive quarters and is looking increasingly optimistic. This performance is reflected in our own business, where we are shaping up for sustainable growth this year.”
Kier’s current Scottish projects include a £9million extension for the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen; and a £13million school and community centre in Fort William.