Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Bill Bolsover, chairman of the Construction products Association, has welcomed the political stability that the Coalition government had brought since the election.
He was speaking to an assembled audience at the Association’s Autumn Lunch last week and urged the industry to respond positively to the recent cuts in public spending.
Bolsover pointed out that the £25bn expected to disappear from public capital spending on construction over the next four years is only 6% of construction spend, and that most companies in the industry have had to adjust to reductions of much more than this over the last couple of years.
“Surely we can make up from the private sector far more than we are losing from the public spending, given the many major projects that have to be delivered.”
These projects include Crossrail, the new Terminal 2 at Heathrow, plus eight nuclear power stations and £3.5 billion of office development in London alone.
Bolsover went on to say that the industry supported the government’s desire to rebalance the economy with a greater focus on manufacturing, as well as its commitment to provide a framework for increased investment in the energy efficiency of the existing building stock through the proposed Green Deal.
He called on the industry with support from the Association to play its part in helping deliver the economic recovery. He said; “I want to see the Association more prominent in creating a climate in which society recognises the benefits that will accrue from the improvements in the built environment.”
