Reflections on 2024

I’m in a reflective mood as the year draws to a close, thinking on the highlights for PRA and across our industry.

We began 2024 with quite challenging market conditions, despite a growth in construction in 2024 predicted by Glenigan at 8% in November 2023.  This turned out to be optimistic and as the year on went on, the forecast reduced to 3% by July and the latest figures issued just last month now show negative growth of -1% for 2024 overall. So it was challenging!

But despite this, the second half of 2024 proved to be much busier and Glenigan have provided a positive outlook for 2025 with growth of 8% again forecast. With a new government in place, a Labour mantra of economic growth, fresh people in charge, interest rates coming down slowly, there are lots of positives. Let’s hope so.

Our Façade Focus events have grown in our new venue, drawing together more industry professionals, keen to discuss the challenges facing our industry. We have also been proud to continue our support for the SFE Façade Design and Engineering Awards as the New Build category sponsors.

Our experience in new build projects and in particular within the Life Sciences sector has expanded as work began on another major development; The Westbrook Centre in Cambridge. This adds to our portfolio of projects in this sector including the landmark TRIBECA development in Kings Cross, London which has now moved to Stage 5. Both of these projects are major contributors to the growth in Life Sciences developments in the UK and part of what has become known as the “Golden Triangle” - Cambridge, London and Oxford.

Façade remediation work has also continued to flow through from clients who urgently need to repair buildings with unsafe cladding. Our experience in this work has led to the publication of two articles on the future of façade remediation which can be found on our website - do take a look at these.

I must pay tribute to our wonderful engineers, designers and consultants who have worked tirelessly throughout the year to deliver projects on time and within budget. Together with our admin team they have made possible our ISO 9001 accreditation and Avetta Safety Certificate, two significant achievements.

Finally, I want to say a great big thank you to all our clients for all the projects we’ve worked on together in 2024. It’s been a great pleasure working with you and we here at PRA wish you all a very Merry Christmas and much prosperity in 2025!