Overall builders' workloads across Britain have begun to improve for the first time since the economic downturn began in 2007, with the picture in Northern Ireland being particularly encouraging, according to the latest research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

The FMB's State of Trade Survey of member firms shows the net balance for workloads, expected workloads and enquiries in the second quarter of 2013 was positive across most of the UK for the first time since 2007. The figure in Northern Ireland showed a positive weighted balance of 19%, compared to +6 in Wales and +4 in England, while the overall UK figure was +3. There was cause for alarm in Scotland, where a negative net balance of -26 was recorded showing that conditions had actually deteriorated during the three months to June.

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From a Northern Ireland perspective, this is the second encouraging result this year. Whereas figures for the first quarter bucked the trend in painting a much improved picture on a canvas of otherwise negative results throughout most of the rest of the UK, these results suggest that business confidence among SME builders is now slowly spreading across Britain.

Maire Nawaz, Director of FMB Northern Ireland, said: "It is encouraging to see conditions may be easing at last. It is a testament to the resilience, work ethic and professionalism of the province's SME builders; it has been a very difficult time for the construction sector with around 20,000 fewer employees in the industry than there were a few years ago.

"While these figures indicate the worst may finally be behind us, the building trade here has a long way to go to get back to pre-2008 levels of employment and output, and there are many hurdles still to overcome. We must not be complacent, as consumer confidence is fragile. The FMB will continue to champion professional builders over the cowboys."

(CD/JP)