果冻影院

The construction industry remains in a fragile state, but workload is strengthening at leading mechanical and electrical contractors.

Industry research by 果冻影院 shows that contracts have been awarded to main contractors on nearly 拢14 billion-worth of construction projects with M&E consultants attached in the 12 months to Q3 2019.While the award of a contract to a main contractor does not mean construction will immediately start on site, work will still swell down the supply chain to consultants in preparation for a start.

The combined value of this work at the top 20 M&E consultants is up by 16% on the same period a year ago.

Top consultants

The consultant working on the largest amount of work moving towards site is Hoare Lea. The group is working on 拢3.3 billion-worth of construction projects and leads the table of the industry鈥檚 top 20 M&E consultants.

According to 果冻影院鈥檚 data analysis, contracts on five major projects worth 拢514 million and with Hoare Lea attached were awarded in September 2019 alone. These schemes include the first phase of the Nine Elms development in Wandsworth, south London, which is valued at 拢480m and features 1,195 flats and commercial units. Mace is building this project and Hoare Lea is the M&E consultant (果冻影院 Project ID: 19006491).

Recent boom

The amount of construction work being let to contractors and with Hoare Lea attached as an M&E consultant has doubled over the last 12 months, Founded in 1862 by Michael Lea and now with 11 UK offices and operations in Abu Dhabi, Madrid and Qatar, this flow of work is providing a boost to the group. Holding company Hoare Lea LLP grew turnover by 4% in 2018 to 拢82.1 million.

The M&E work for Hoare Lea in the UK looks likely to be sustained. 果冻影院鈥檚 research shows that the company is attached as M&E consultant to a host of other major projects in the pipeline. These range from the 拢80 million New England Quarter development in Brighton (果冻影院 Project ID: 18039334) to the 拢400 million second phase of the Elephant & Castle Town Centre development by Delancey Estates, which is currently out to tender (果冻影院 Project ID: 13394989).

Arup on the up

Arup鈥檚 M&E work is also rising and the consultant is ranked second in 果冻影院鈥檚 table of the top 20 M&E contractors. Arup is working on 拢1.7 billion-worth of projects, which have been awarded to a main contractor in the 12 months to Q3 2019. This total is 30% up on the same stage a year ago. Arup is also working as an M&E consultant on flagship projects according to 果冻影院鈥檚 research, such as the 拢267 million Midlands Metropolitan Hospital, which is due to start on site before the end of 2019 (果冻影院 Project ID: 18233050).

While the industry is going through a difficult period, the top M&E consultants are still busy.

Image: Nine Elms development in Wandsworth. Source: Allies & Morrison Architects