Civil projects have surged by 39% compared with February last year, according to contract leads monitoring service Emap Glenigan.

Keith Simpson, manager of construction at Shorterm, told Recruiter the company has experienced an increase in civil construction work during the last six weeks:

“Our [placement] numbers in construction have gone up by about 120 since the end of January.

“We have people on the Olympic sites, working on the airports and rail, which is all good business,” he says, adding that 18 new contractors have started this morning.

Emap Glenigan predicts the sector will remain positive throughout 2009 as a result of new projects in the renewable energy sector and spending on rail and road infrastructure.