Interface

40 Spring 2022 M ore than £7bn worth of construction contracts were awarded and a pipeline of £12.4bn worth of planning applications were approved in February, according to the latest report from construction industry intelligence provider, Barbour ABI. e residential market continued its steady recovery, with £2.3bn of contracts awarded in February, but the surprise package was the Hospitality and Leisure, which reached more than £1bn of contract awards for the rst time since March 2021. e £600m contract award for the One Berkeley Street Hotel in London was the single largest contract and the rst mega- sized hotel project in almost a year. e report also looks at planning approvals and the picture for the future of construction in the UK is looking good. Following a slowmonth in January, February sawmore than £12bn worth of planning applications given the green light. Infrastructure projects saw the biggest activity in the month with applications for £5bn worth of projects approved. is is the highest gure recorded for infrastructure projects since November 2016 and is driven by the increased demand for renewable power sources. e single largest project is the Norfolk Vanguard o shore wind farm, which is valued at £2.7bn, but there are also several other major projects, including battery storage facilities, solar farms, and onshore wind farms. e residential sector also performed well in terms of planning approvals, with £3.8bn worth of requests given the go ahead. is gure is higher than the £3.5bn monthly average seen in 2021 and shows the continuing robustness of the residential housing sector. £7bn worth of contracts awarded in February. CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY BUOYANT