Election 2017: SME builders issue warning over post-election confidence dip

Small builders have warned the government that construction is particularly vulnerable to any confidence dip resulting from the indecisive result of the general election.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, urged the government to take steps to minimise uncertainty resulting from yesterday’s poll.

He said: “The surprise general election result has left key business sectors nervous with no one political party securing enough seats to form a majority government. The construction sector is particularly vulnerable to dips in consumer confidence brought about by political uncertainty and therefore it’s crucial that this uncertainty is minimised.”

But he said the longer-term ‘silver lining’ for the industry could be the diminished prospect of a ‘hard Brexit’.

“Theresa May stood on a hard Brexit platform and she has clearly not been given a mandate to approach the negotiations in this way.

“Brexit is inevitable but the election result will surely have a significant impact on the shape of the Brexit deal we end up with.

“This could be a positive for business leaders who are concerned about a broad range of issues – for the construction sector, our greatest concern is that the flow of migrant workers might be reduced too quickly and before we are able to put in place a framework for training sufficient UK workers to replace.”