The constructive approach

The last few years can hardly be said to have been a bountiful period for general contractors working in the industrial and logistics construction sector. The market has been rather volatile, to say the least. It has either been too hot, as it was during the pandemic, when contractors struggled with rising material prices and labour shortages, or it’s been too cool - as it is now, as the number of orders falls off. Today, unlike during the post-pandemic boom, developers are having to watch every penny and this is hurting contractors’ earnings. In a sense, contractors and developers are both in the same economic boat, but the situation for contractors is far more difficult. The larger players, who have their own materials factories, construction teams and lease their own machinery, are especially having to contend with higher fixed costs. “Investors are being selective over new projects and are holding back on some of them; but when contractors are not building, they f