Seven UK Construction Sectors to Watch in 2009

Several high profile construction projects will require an array of experienced construction professionals over the next 18 months. The UK’s ConstructionSkills Network is predicting over 40,000 new construction jobs will be created every year between 2009 and 2013, with the north-east benefiting with the creation of 1,700 new construction jobs year on year. North east infrastructure projects, such as the £260m New Tyne Crossing and Building Schools for the Future programme are two construction areas that will drive construction recruitment activity over the next four years.

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Key UK Construction Recruitment Opportunities to watch in 2009

Crossrail
The £16bn Crossrail project, the largest civil engineering project in Europe, is the most exciting infrastructure projects of 2009. The rail scheme, running from Maidenhead in the west, to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, has been in planning for 20 years. The £300m to 400m project delivery partner role will be announced in March. Enabling works frameworks will be awarded in the same month, while contracts notices for the main works will be published in summer next year.

Key Crossrail Construction Job Opportunities in 2009: Senior Estimator, Planner, Civil Engineer


London Olympics 2012
Activity is increasing steadily on the Olympic Park. The latest figures show that of the 2,701 strong workforce currently working on the Olympic Park. Milestones to be achieved by summer include completing the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre foundations.
Up to 9,000 construction workers will be needed at the peak of construction on the Olympic Park in 2009/2010.

Key London Olympics Construction Job Opportunities in 2009: Planner/Senior Planner, Senior Quantity Surveyor, Civil Engineer

Energy
Seven new nuclear power plants are planned for construction over the coming years with individual budgets of £600m each. A £1bn coal-fired power station, Kingsnorth plant proposed by Eon, is also expected to receive government approval in the New Year. A number of other power companies have also outlined plans for coal-fired stations and are waiting to see what happens to the EON project.

Key UK Energy Construction Job Opportunities in 2009. Senior Quantity Surveyor, Mechanical Service Engineer, Contracts Manager, HVAC Engineer


Education
The UK Government's £45bn Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme has set a number of priorities for the next 18 months. The administering body Partnerships for Schools (PfS) recently reported a number of new entrants a growing number of companies entering the area. The programme is being fast tracked with local authorities now able to bring their BSF schemes forward for early inclusion. The European Investment Bank has offered to provide 50percent of funding for up to five BSF schemes. But another 18 schemes will also need funding by the end of 2009.
The PfS £2bn National Academy framework delivers capital- funded Academy school schemes and smaller BSF schemes, typically under £150m. The framework is due to be renewed in 2009, doubling in size to a £4bn pipeline of work. The six leading companies in the market are Carillion; Balfour Beatty; Kier, Laing O'Rourke; Wilmott Dixon and Skanska.

Key UK Education Construction Job Opportunities in 2009: Quantity Surveyor, Contracts Manager, Construction Health and Safety Manager


Healthcare
Small and medium-sized healthcare schemes will be the order of the day in 2009. This covers contracts with a value of under £100m, which can be procured much quicker than larger scale PFI projects. Fourteen firms are currently bidding for up to 10 places on the new £1bn framework, known as NHS Express LIFT. The deal will run for two years with a two-year extension option. Key companies include Eric Wright; Laing O'Rourke; Vinci; Skanska;Costain; Miller; and Morgan Sindall.

Key UK Healthcare Construction Job Opportunities in 2009: Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager, Architect

Roads
Site-clearance has started on the £5bn privately-funded M25 widening scheme. Balfour Beatty head up the ConnectPlus consortium on the Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO). The project will be fully operational during 2009. There are another four projects, with a total value of £325m that can expect starts in 2009:
£30m improvements to the A180/A160 junction near Immingham Port.
£100m A46 dualling between Newark and Widmerpool.
£30m of improvements to the A12 between the M25 and Ipswich.
£165m south east Manchester relief road.

Key UK Roads Construction Job Opportunities in 2009: Highways Engineer. Civil Engineer, Construction Project Manager


Water infrastructure
Between 2008 and 2010 it is estimated at least £7bn will be spent on Government water projects. On top of that, a number of water and sewage firms have called for an extra £500m between 2008 to 2010 to be spent on upgrade projects.

Key UK Water Services Construction Job Opportunities in 2009: Water Planner, Senior Planner, Quantity Surveyor.

Government moves to counter UK construction skills gap

The UK Government is planning a major move in conjunction with the UK construction industry and engineering sector to tackle the country's widening construction skills gap.

According to The Guardian newspaper, British Innovation Minister John Denham is to launch a fund to tackle serious skills shortages in a number of industries including the UK construction sector.

He will hold talks with employers in June to discuss how government and industry can prevent major skills gaps in finance, construction, engineering, IT and science up to 2014. He says Britain needs to train nearly two million workers in these industries to remain competitiveness on a global scale.

Denham plans to earmark specific training funds for these industries and has also allocated £200m in capital spending over the next three years to support specialist facilities for training.
UK Government research indicates that, between 2004 and 2014, an estimated 650,000 construction workers , 300,000 science and engineering workers and 500,000 IT workers will be required.

Denham said there would be a wave of demand for skilled construction workers and engineers to build nuclear power stations and green power generators. Construction workers and engineers are also essential for the construction of homes and to deliver big UK infrastructure projects such as Crossrail, and for new colleges and schools.

Energy industry leaders have warned the government that a lack of skilled engineers and project managers could jeopardise the building of a new generation of nuclear power stations since many workers were trained as the previous ones were built and are coming up to retirement.