Roofing industry reports positive start to 2021

The National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) Trade Survey reports that the roofing industry had a positive start to 2021 but skill shortages are causing headaches for contractors.

Growth in workloads

Roofing contractors reported a significant growth in workloads during the first quarter of 2021, but were hampered by recruitment difficulties and continued material shortages and price rises, according to the Q1 State of the Roofing Industry survey produced by Glenigan for NFRC.

Recruitment difficulties

Growing workloads meant that a net balance of 8 percent of firms grew their direct headcount on the previous quarter, and 17 percent took on more sub-contractors. However, over half (56 percent) of contractors reported recruitment difficulties. Roles that were hardest to fill included roof slaters and tilers (39 percent), felters (33 percent), and specialist slaters (29 percent) and tilers (22 percent).

Material shortages

Material shortages also exacerbated over the quarter, with over two thirds (68 percent) reporting a deterioration. In particular, concrete roof tiles remained the top shortage area closely followed by timber battens, insulation, slate, and clay tiles. Shortages, as well as the rising prices of raw materials, has meant 89 per cent of respondents reported price inflation.

Sector performance

All sectors of the roofing industry saw growth in Q1 2021, with the domestic repair, maintenance and improvement and new build residential sectors showing the strongest growth.

Government spending on public sector construction projects is expected to drive positive workloads for roofing contractors over the next year, with 70 percent of contractors in this sector predicting growth over the next twelve months – far above any other sector.

Regional performance

Northern roofing contractors, those in London, and the Southern Counties and those who operate nationwide saw the sharpest rise in workloads. Scotland and Wales both saw falls in those reporting rising workloads, following a busy end to 2020.

Payments

Payment continues to be slow – whilst 62 percent of roofing firms have contractual payment terms of 30 days or less, only 42 percent were paid within that period, on average.

NFRC comment

Commenting on the report, NFRC Chief Executive James Talman said: “The roofing industry continued to perform well in the first quarter of this year, with roofers reporting that workloads, enquiries and employment were all up. The residential sector is doing particularly well, driven by the strong new build housing market, and homeowners continuing to spend their extra disposable income on upgrading and replacing their roofs.”

Government support needed to develop next generation of roofers

Mr Talman added: “However, there are simply not enough roofers to deliver the amount of demand we are seeing. One in every two roofing contractors are currently struggling to find skilled operatives. This is exacerbating the other challenges roofing contractors are also facing, such as finding materials and managing their cash flow. If the government wants our industry to help put roofs on 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, retrofit 27 million properties and build brand new schools, hospitals and prisons, then it needs to work with us to help to train, develop and upskill the next generation of roofers.”

Glenigan comment

Commenting on the survey findings, Glenigan Economics Director Allan Wilen said:

“The construction recovery strengthened further during the first quarter, with roofing contractors reporting rising workloads. Repair, maintenance and improvement work and new house construction have been the best performing areas. Roofing contractors anticipate that the recovery in workload will be sustained over the next twelve months as the UK economy is unlocked, with new enquiries pointing to a broad-based rise in activity. However, shortages of skilled labour and materials will be a potential brake on the pace of the recovery.”

About the State of the UK Roofing Industry Survey

The State of the UK Roofing Industry Survey is a quarterly survey produced by Glengian for NFRC. This survey looked at activity during the three months to March 2021. The survey of NFRC members was undertaken in March 2021 and 200 roofing contractors responded. The responses were weighted to reflect the size of the individual firms and the structure of the roofing sector.

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