January 2012 - UK Housebuilding Sector: 2011 considered plus the outlook
The Sector rose by a handsome 17% last year on a weighted basis, which is fine to be getting on with. But we believe the paradigm has shifted in terms of housing demand for the foreseeable future - and further re-structuring/downsizing will be required amongst suppliers. See Papers
January 2012 - Unique Index shows the UK Construction and Building Sector flat-lined in 2011 and would rank 12th in the FTSE 100
The value of the quoted UK construction and building industry - as defined by our very own Index - inched upwards in 2011 by 2% to reach a total of £37.6 billion (2010: +20%): This includes consultants, contractors, distributors, housebuilders, materials manufacturers, plant hire companies and service providers; and the best sub-sector performer was plant hire, with worst being consultants down 25%. See Papers
January 2012 - UK construction output: no respite until 2014 at the earliest
Experian, where Building Value is an advisor, says that UK GDP will be barely positive this year and UK construction output will fall by around 6% in real terms. Nor will there be any substantial recovery until 2014 when output will still be more than 7% below its 2007 peak; and, there is real pain to be felt in public sector building. All numbers come with a health warning, too, should Europe implode.
November 2011 - European Construction growth forecast to return to modest growth in 2013
Euroconstruct, the premier forecasting unit for European construction activity, published its latest numbers for 19 countries in Paris this month at conference number 72. These show that after 2010’s sharp 3.6% fall, in real terms, growth was still negative last year (-0.6%); and it will be 2013 (+1.8%) before plus signs re-emerge after half a decade of annual declines. Denmark, Holland and Slovakia are the leaders, while Portugal and Ireland continue to fall. Of the big five France looks the most interesting. As above, all numbers depend on the EU remaining substantially the same and solvent-ish.
“Music is what feelings sound like”
Q4 saw BVL Directors in both retro and contemporary mood. In the former category, they saw John Mayall at Cadogan Hall who was truly inspiring, not least because he is now 78. More up to date were “Yellowcard” (post-industrial punk) at the Forum in Camden. They were, in our objective view, mellifluous.
June 2011 - Building Value presents at Intercem Conference in Barcelona
BVL’s Chairman Tony Williams was delighted to be invited to invited to present at Intercem - in a rare joint outing with Construction Knowledge. The subject was a detailed analysis called: "The global cement industry: through the financial crisis; and beyond".
See Papers
March & April - Building Value World Tour
The Chinese say that “it is better to do a good deed near home than to go far away to burn incense”; and, as Chairman of Building Value, I was far away at some 20,000 kilometres from London in fact. Thank you, too, for all those cards and letters (as the late great Dean Martin used to say). During the BVL World Tour, I first visited our clients in China and then marketed in Australia before some ‘down time’ in the nation of my birth New Zealand (aka Godzone); not to mention, brief sojourns in two City States (Hong Kong and Singapore). For the record, the number one issue in all locations was the cost of living. Concern about the housing market is also omnipresent and the prevailing political climes continue to morph to centre/right. See Papers
A little Winter music
Yes, we have been working very hard, but we have also had R&R time and a hat trick of concerts. ’30 Seconds to Mars’ at the O2 Arena (courtesy of Knauf AG) was first up and absolutely flawless. This was followed by probably-the-best-concert in Building Value’s corporate history with Biffy Clyro at Wembley Arena: brighter than a 1000 suns. Less luminous, however, was Frank Turner - who we have previously hailed as “God”. Indeed, he proved to be mortal after all with a desultory performance at the Brixton O2; which could also be career defining.
June 2010 - Building Value delivers paper at 69th Euroconstruct Conference in Dublin
BVL’s Tony Williams delivered a paper entitled “Pitfalls, Recovery & Opportunities: case studies and lesson learned”. As Rafiki in ‘The Lion King’ says: “the past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it of learn from it”. And so it is, as we emerge from the worst economic and industry downturn for a generation, there are lessons to be learned and ways and means of benefiting from it. Similarly, there is life after death and the sunny uplit lands will return. See Papers
If music be the food.....
Summer fayre was both advant-garde (Biffy Clyro at the O2 Brixton) and retro (The Steve Miller Band at the RAH); a warm glow enveloped the Building Value Board, siblings and friends after both occasions.
"Frank Turner is God"
Another outing to see the soon-to-be-great man and quintessential 21st Century English troubador; and he has a conscience. BVL staff, friends and family smiled for days afterwards.
February 2010 - Outlook for European Real Estate (update)
This Sector is undergoing a dramatic transformation in fortunes, for the better; and while it will take time to impact new build - transaction volumes and % returns continue to rise smartly. See Papers
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