The regional structure of the construction industry in Great Britain

Abstract

Phillips R. H. S. (1973) The regional structure of the construction industry in Great Britain, Reg. Studies, 7, 287–300. The paper produces a picture of the structure of the Construction Industry in Scotland, Wales and the Economic Planning Regions of England, showing how this structure differs from region to region, by comparison with the position in Great Britain as a whole. It emerges from the paper that virtually all the exported jobs (created by the very large firms whose contracts are found in almost every region) tend to be credited to London, and that apart from the South-East of England the only other region which is not, on balance, importing construction work, is the West Midlands which is self-sufficient. At the other end of the scale we find a high degree of dependence on imported work in Scotland, Wales and in both the Northern Regions of England. The paper is designed to throw more light on the employment provided by firms within each region and on regional factors affecting the efficiency of firms.