Construction could get £9bn boost by going digital

Construction firms could receive an £8.9bn boost and be able to hire 70,000 more people if they had access to the best digitial capabilities available, according to a report by Virgin Media Business.

These are some of the findings in the report, titled ‘The UK’s £92 Billion Digital Opportunity’, which looks at how businesses can improve growth by adopting the latest digital technologies.

The report was based on research from Oxford Economics, following interviews with senior executives at over 1,000 UK-based companies.

It found that executives at construction companies said they had increased their revenue by 5.9% when taking advantage of the latest digital technology available – the biggest of all the sectors surveyed in the report.

While over the next two years, construction companies said they are optimistic about the potential of digital technology to drive growth.

Adopting digital technology is expected to result in some job losses in the sector - approximately 24,000 jobs – according to the report, but 39% of construction firms said they don’t expect any jobs to become obsolete from increasing digital use.

Overall, the report says expected job losses are outweighed by the number of employees companies anticipate hiring as a direct result of digital investments, which across the construction sector are expected to total around 70,000 new jobs.