Brexit realities are hitting home

By Chloë McCulloch2021-06-21T05:00:00

Labour shortages and import barriers are now joined by certification challenges

If you were yearning for more freedom from today, then the prime minister’s decision to delay the fourth step of lockdown easing will have left you, like many others, disappointed. Still his plea to allow “just a little longer” for the vaccine rollout is largely irrelevant to the business of construction, a sector that has been positively booming for some time now.

But the industry is not without problems, most of which stem from a growing disconnect between supply and demand. The latest data from purchasing managers provided clear evidence of the pressures at play: the good news was that May marked the fourth straight month of growth, with a hike in new orders and activity, but less good news was the accompanying input price inflation, which hit a 24-year high.

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