Building has asked a selection of winning people and firms from 2017’s Building Awards to predict the big opportunities, threats and surprises that we might expect to see in the coming 12 months.

Paul Tremble, director of strategic growth, WSP (engineering consultant of the year) 

Opportunity knocks: The government following up on Budget announcements around infrastructure should provide the most obvious opportunity. But also technology companies, who are now among the largest companies in the world are investing in offices, growing logistics capabilities and requiring datacentres

Danger lurks: The threat will continue to be in answering the question of what does Brexit really mean for everyone. We’re moving into the last laps of negotiations, and businesses will have to be agile and respond as issues arise – no-one knows what the next 18 months has in store

Surprise surprise: The big surprise could be the advent of digital technology. We’re already seeing the pace of change increase and as a business we’re investing as much as we can to improve automated design. Google is already entering the market with its Sidewalk business – we might see technology companies coming in to construction

Follow building.co.uk over the Christmas break to read more predictions for 2018