UK Construction Market View 2021

Summary

Arcadis UK Construction Market View

The UK and the EU signed a post-Brexit trade deal on the 24th of December 2020, granting us all an early Christmas present after months of intense negotiations. The unsettling uncertainty that has held back the UK and its potential investors for the last few years is finally gone. The deal helps avoid the major disruptions that could be caused by the introduction of tariffs and quotas, but companies will still need to adapt to new rules and navigate through new administrative requirements.

While uncertainty related to the post Brexit relationship with the EU has been removed (although its exact nature is yet to be seen in practice), for most companies and investors, the impact of the pandemic remains the top challenge. The approval of vaccinations resulted in a surge of optimism, as reflected by a net increase of 58% of CFOs being more upbeat about their financial prospects in Q4 2020 (Deloitte CFO Survey). While the discovery of a new virus strain has placed unprecedented pressure on the NHS and triggered a third national lockdown, the simultaneous roll-out of the immunisation programme has enabled businesses to maintain an optimistic outlook based on the foreseeable easing of restrictions …