POSITIVE growth among Scottish construction firms in the first three months of this year could be undermined by the forthcoming EU referendum, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
Commenting on the results of the FMB’s State of Trade Survey for Q1 2016, Gordon Nelson, director of FMB Scotland, said: ‘Workloads among Scottish builders grew in the first three months of this year, which is an encouraging result. That said, one swallow doesn’t make a summer and it comes off the back of a poor result at the end of last year. Furthermore, the construction industry is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in confidence and as we approach the forthcoming EU referendum, uncertainty is building. From experience, referenda can curtail consumer confidence as evidenced by Scotland’s own independence referendum back in 2014 – there’s no doubt that these momentous votes have a direct impact upon workloads in the construction industry.’