East Midlands construction soars

Construction in the East Midlands experienced a 33% leap in the underlying value of construction project starts (schemes valued at below £100 million) in the three months to July, making it the best-performing region in the UK during the period.

A mix of private housing and industrial work is driving this growth, and a healthy pipeline of 1,180 schemes with planning permission is expected to keep the construction industry busy in the region for the next 12 months.

Buoyant regional pipeline

There are 737 private residential schemes due to begin construction on site in the East Midlands over the next 12 months.

This is by far the largest number of scheduled starts of any sector in the region. Work coming up ranges from Peveril Homes’ plan for 81 houses at Jacksdale in Nottinghamshire, where work should start by the end of this year (Project ID: 22048562), to Welbeck Estates proposed Creswell development of 300 homes (pictured) near Worksop (Project ID: 17394700).

The industrial sector has provided steady workflow in thre East Midlands for a number of years and Glenigan’s industry analysis has identified 273 more schemes due to commence in the next 12 months.

This ranges from relatively smaller schemes such as a £12.7 million plan for two warehouses at Crow Lane in Northampton, where work should start in November (Project ID: 21046903), to the £56 million Newark Logistics Park (Project ID: 21513850).

Civil plans

The civil engineering sector in the East Midlands is also producing steady workflow.

Over the three months to July 2024, there has also been a 35% rise in the value of civil engineering work given planning permission compared to the same period a year ago.

Civils work in the region includes schemes to support industrial developments, such as a £29 million package of infrastructure work at the DIRFT III park near Northampton, where Winvic is due to start work in November (Project ID: 20460738).

Winvic tops the table

A healthy flow of work from the industrial sector has ensured that Winvic, which specialises in this sector, has won the most work in the East Midlands over the past year.

Winvic’s order book in the 12 months to July 2024 reached £632 million and includes a £500 million project at the SEGRO Logistics Park in Northampton to develop a 109,000 sq m storage unit on Plot 4 (Project ID: 23383013).

East Midlands – Top 10 contractors August 2023 to July 2024

Source: Glenigan

Wates runs in second due mainly to a £300 million prison scheme at Gartree in Leicestershire, where construction is due to begin later this Autumn (Project ID: 21301670), but industrial work is boosting many other contractors in the East Midlands.

Balfour Beatty, ranked third, has a £211 million deal to expand the infrastructure at Rolls-Royce’s base at Raynesway in Derbyshire (Project ID: 23188701). Work is expected to begin in 20216.

Glencar, another contractor specialising in industrial work, has won £98.1 million-worth of contracts in the East Midlands over the last year. This includes a £72.6 million warehouse development for Amatrix Grantham at Spittalgate,in Lincolnshire, where work is scheduled to start in November (Project ID: 21264742).

Busy schedule

With strong starts and a steady flow of work in the pipeline, the construction industry in the East Midlands looks set to remain busy.