Many electricians may be facing a tough Christmas this year.
The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) has revealed this week that in the third quarter of 2012 many contractors have struggled to maintain their work and earned funds, with a reported large amount of contractors seeing a decrease in turnover, while 45% remained the same.
Those hit particularly badly are larger contracting companies who usually pull down over £200000 per year. Many of these companies – around 44 per cent – have reported that their turnover has decreased during the later months of 2012.
It’s believed that the general decline of profits across the electrical and construction sectors comes about as a result of not enough construction going ahead and the massive amount of competition contractors face from others.
“Life in our sector is still tough, as more and more firms compete for less work, and projects with smaller profit margins,” said Steve Bratt, chief executive at the ECA.
“The £5bn investment in infrastructure and the launch of PF2 mentioned in the autumn statement will, I hope, lead to resurgence in the healthcare and education markets; two key areas of income for construction.
“However, we need something which will give the industry a boost now… the sector needs a short-term shot in the arm. Funding for shovel ready construction projects would provide this and this is something we need to see sooner rather than later.”
Next year does however see the introduction of the government’s new Green Deal, which provides ample opportunities for electrical contractors to get involved in the installation of energy saving devices within homes. It’s expected that the Green Deal introduction will give the industry a much-needed shot in the arm, and other initiatives such as the Renewable Heat Incentive should give further opportunities as we go into 2012.
The ECA also asked many firms whether they thought there would be a continuation of this negative decline, and a whopping 77% didn’t expect things to get better in the next few months.
