Small firms face crunch in 2010

摘要

Small contractors will not feel the full force of the downturn for at least a year, after which insolvencies are expected to peak, write Sarah Richardson and Sophie Griffiths. Jonathan Hook, head of construction and engineering at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, said that he believed the nadir for smaller firms was "one to two years away", by which time the current lack of bidding activity would have trickled down the supply chain. Hook said firms with a turnover of up to ￡300m were most at risk. He said: "Some will be well funded and well run so should be okay. But there will be many within the ￡10-300m bracket that will come under pressure."