Investing to Thrive – UK Architects and Engineers Laying Firm Foundations for Future

A&E community is using economic slowdown to invest, learn and consolidate
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London, UK, 14 April 2010: Deltek Inc (Nasdaq: PROJ), the leading provider of enterprise applications software and solutions for project-focused businesses, recently commissioned a study on the current state of the UK architecture and engineering industry.*Overall, the study found that the UK architecture and engineering community remains realistic about business in 2010 and beyond - and is searching hard to uncover where future opportunities may be found.
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However, despite this uncertainty, the report revealed a surprising willingness to invest in technology, training and people in the midst of the slowdown.*Although business is in a state of flux, architects and engineers are determined to lay firm foundations for sustainable growth when the downturn ends.
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A decisive 75% of respondents to a survey which made up part of the report said they are planning capital expenditure over the next 18 months to enable them to work more efficiently.*To consolidate this, 75% said that they would include training in this investment.
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Thriving in 2010 and Beyond – a Practical Guide for Architects and Engineers, was researched by Unwired, written by former Architects’ Journal editor, Ruth Slavid, and commissioned by Deltek.*It was compiled using a mix of survey data, comments from architects and engineers who are*experiencing life and work in the recession-hit sector and the knowledge of the key industry spokespeople who make up the report’s advisory panel.
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In total, the report paints a picture of a sector still in shock after the punishing economic conditions of 2009 and still unsure as to how a new post-boom era will pan out - and where its opportunities lay. No wonder 90% thought existing practices would need to be more agile to survive – and business skills were rated as more important as design skills in defining the qualities of a top professional. “The rules have fundamentally changed.*I don’t know what the new rules will be,” says one senior industry figure talking about planning and the commercial market. And, his comments appear to ring true for the entire community.
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Some 32% of respondents thought that refurbishment projects, bringing old buildings up to current environmental standards could be a major source of future work for their practice.*And the continuing globalisation of the industry was emphasised by the fact that 75% thought it was either ‘essential’ or ‘quite important’ to work internationally to survive.
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There was some optimism about the housing sector with 35.5% thinking that it would need to grow in some way because of the pressure of housing shortages.*However, the promise of the infrastructure boom appears to have been shortlived in view of public spending cuts, with only 10% thinking current volumes of work would increase.
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However, there were encouraging signs that the community will be using this time to invest in the latest technology and improve skills – in fact only 13% said that they would NOT be investing in new technology this year.
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Top of the list was new design and documentation software – with 71% making this a priority, probably due to the increasing need for Building Information Modelling (BIM) which involves all members of a project team working on a single virtual model.
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However, equally remarkable was the 58% planning to invest in business information systems.*Plus, as 88% thought that the real-time project information these would provide could prove invaluable to their operations, it can be deduced that this figure will increase when further budget becomes available.
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“It’s clear that architects and engineers are doing the sensible thing and taking a long hard look at what they can do to improve the way they work.*When work was abundant there was neither the time nor the inclination to do this.*Now, however, they are considering every means there is to become more competitive,” says Marcus Leathwood of Deltek.
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Thriving in 2010 – and Beyond follows on from the success of last year’s Thriving in the Downturn which clocked thousands of downloads.*This year’s report can be downloaded free of charge from #-Link-Snipped-#.