Roofing In 2017, Where Will It Go?

Roofing in 2017

Hi guys and gals, happy new year. I thought I would start this post of with some news about roofing in this new year of 2017. I think that it will grow but this is just my opinion but there has been a pretty big acquisition recentely but before we move onto that I would like to mention what I believ to be a wrong forcast from a Man I have no problm with, this is not an attack on Ian I just have a difference of opinion that’s all.

So, let’s hear what Ian Anfield had to say about the construction industry as a whole. Ian is Managing Director of Hudson Contract, a construction audit and contract provider based in Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

“There’s no escaping the fact that Brexit will dominate the news and political agenda in 2017 and will have a massive impact on UK construction. This is primarily because we rely so heavily on EU labour to man our construction sites. Possible trade tariffs and US protectionism could shake up the materials markets in 2017, as well as the weakening of the pound increasing the cost of imported goods.“

Read more: Mixed Predictions for Construction in 2017

I’m not too worried about Brexit, he says that “we rely heavily on EU labour to man our sites” but we have many great workers from all over the world here. I’ve worked with people from Latin America, Australia, South East Asia and so on, all outside the EU. Plus there are many fine young British Men and Women out there who are unemployed and are more than capable of manning our sites so for me this is not that big of a deal.

Plus, with UK house prices rising in 2016 I don’t see a bad future ahead, thoses houses have roofs that need fitting and fixing so here is place for optimism I believe.

The average UK property price increased from £202,66 3to £216,674 in the year to 1 October 2016, a 6.9% increase.

The largest increases in house prices were found in the East of England (12.3%), the South East (9.1%) and London (7.7%). The North East had the smallest increase (2.7%). No regions saw a decrease in house prices.

Read full post here: House Prices Rose by 6.9% Average in 2016

Plus I may have mentioned this in another recent blog I do forget so please forgive me if that’s the case but remeber, the construction industry is large but the roofig is much smalle than the whole construction niche, so let’s see what Sarah Harding of Marley Eternit had to say on the roofing specifically.

What’s in store for the roofing sector in 2017

Despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the roofing sector has performed better than expected during 2016. The chronic shortage of housing in the UK and Government focus on increasing the volume of new homes, means the housebuilding sector is still very buoyant, with housing supply increasing by 52% in the last three years.

Read more here

Now, onto the big acquisition I mentioned above, this is a massive deal here, lets have a little look at what happened.

Avonside Group Acquires Ploughcroft

Ploughcroft, the Halifax-based eco-roofing specialist, has been acquired by one of the largest roofing companies in Britain, Avonside Group Services Limited.

The deal will result in the creation of 25 new jobs in the region over the next two years.

Read More: 25 jobs to be created as Avonside Group acquires Halifax’s Ploughcroft in major deal

I wish them all the best and the reason I started with this is because of th new jobs that are to be created, meaning more roofers in work which is always nice to see, especially with all of the young roofers coming through who have a bright futur ahead of them this is always great to see. It means that there is money in the roofing game still which shows it’s not a dying trade like many have and will go in the near future with the way technology is making many people now obsolete so this is welcome news.

One of the aims that Avonside has for Ploughcroft is the expansian into other parts of Yorkshire and even the North West in the next 2 years, this it seem will be the domestic market but who knows what will happen but I definitely wish them all the luck, but I’m hoping they won need luck. Great story.

Related Story: Are BMF And NFRC Announcing A Strategic Partnership?

That will be all or today folks, net week I will have more information about predictions and forecats for the roofing industry in 2017 but this post will get too long if I talk about all of it so I don’t want it to e too big so that’s it for the Roofer Pro Middlesbrough Blog and like I said, come back next week fo more roofing news, untill then people.

Published Here First: Roofing In 2017, Where Will It Go?