Six in ten civil engineering sub-sectors saw a fall in their workloads over the second quarter of 2016, with the latest figures from the industry indicating that the good times may now be in the past.
In the first poll of contractors working in the civil engineering industry taken since the Brexit vote, a majority of those polled reported that their order books have contracted over the past few months.
Indeed, workloads were seen to increase by just two percentage points over the three months from April to the end of June, a significant reduction on the first quarter of the current year, when workloads were seen to be up by 20 per cent.
At the same time, the study, which was carried out by the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) found that several larger projects have either been put on hold or stalled, adding to the sense of pessimism in the sector.
Commenting, CECA chief executive Alasdair Reisner said: "These results spell real trouble for the UK economy, and should act as a major warning sign to policymakers.
"We know that infrastructure investment is a driver of economic growth. Given the recent disappointing economic forecasts following the Brexit vote, our figures show that the market is slowing just as the country needs it to speed up."
This comes on the back of the news that the government is planning a fundamental reform of technical education, with the Royal Academy of Engineering welcoming the new proposals.
