2015: Reasons to be cautiously optimistic

摘要

It is the start of a New Year and let's assume it's going to be a positive one. You all know too well that with the advent of an economic downturn, geotechnics is the first to suffer. But it's also the first within construction to see the green shoots of recovery. The evidence of those green shoots is there: GE's 2014 Geotechnical Services File saw turnover from the top 35 firms break through the £lbn mark for the first time since 2009. But let's not make light of the struggle back to good health - there is still some way to go before clients and main contractors allow the benefits to be felt in the form of healthier margins. On the positive side, the UK government for one appears to have grasped more fully the ability of infrastructure investment to really deliver economic benefits - illustrated very recently by the announcement of huge and long-term investment in roads. This leads to the next niggling concern though - who is going to deliver the potential bounty?