THE construction industry faces being plunged into a fresh crisis amid fears the uncertainty brought by Brexit and the prospect of a second vote on Scottish independence will pull the plug on funding for projects.
A senior figure at accountancy firm Grant Thornton in Scotland has warned the current political impasse, alongside “growing nervousness” from overseas investors, presents a major threat to investment in the sector.
James Andersen, the firm’s property and construction specialist, fears the uncertainty over the UK’s exit from the European Union and Scotland’s constitutional future risks derailing the recovery the construction industry has staged following the global financial crash of 2008 and 2009. His firm is calling for greater consultation from political leaders amid fears vital contracts and international funding for projects could be lost.
Mr Andersen said: “For some time now, Grant Thornton has been warning that the property and construction sector needs as much support as possible if it’s to continue growing sustainably.
“The recent business rates changes, combined with a raft of sweeping tax reforms, and the ongoing skills shortage has created a toxic mix and, quite simply, there is now no room for complacency. Scotland’s property and construction sector contributes billions to the economy and plays a vital role in skilled employment. Public and private sector leaders need to start a dialogue immediately and explore how greater collaboration and a joined-up strategy focused on growth can enable the industry to thrive in the medium to long term.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here