Civils contractors have claimed that a recent rise in workloads and headcount show that the civils industry is now recruiting for recovery.

Results from the newly published Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA)’s quarterly workload trends survey show that after two successive quarters of annual falls, workloads rose in 2020 Q4, according to a balance of 11% of British firms.

Order books increased for 20% of British firms in the last quarter of 2020, the highest balance in three years, and nearly half of all firms expect headcount to rise in the coming year, the highest balance in almost six years.

Alasdair Reisner, CECA chief executive, said: “These survey results show that the infrastructure sector is primed to drive the recovery from Covid-19 in 2021. As one of the few sectors that has been able to continue working safely throughout the pandemic, we have already seen the strategic importance of the construction and infrastructure sectors to the whole economy.

“Now that CECA members’ workloads are increasing and order books are growing, we will see the sector deliver much-needed job creation in all parts of the UK.

“Given the UK government’s stated intention to ‘Build, Build, Build’, coupled with its aspiration to ‘level up’ the economy, there has perhaps never been a better time to enter our industry, which will be at the vanguard of our national recovery from Covid-19 as our members deliver the key infrastructure businesses and communities rely upon.”