The State of Construction E-Business in the UK

The UK Construction industry has gradually ebbed out of the great recession which started in 2008. Output from the construction sector in the UK in 2015 currently sits at around the 2005 level in real terms (Rhodes, 2015). However, its direct contribution to the GDP (over 6.5%) makes it a key sector in the national economy (DBIS, 2013). This is due to its size: the contracting sector is responsible for 2 million jobs, the services sector for 580,000 jobs and the products sector for another 310,000 jobs (DBIS, 2013). ONS (2015) states that compared with April 2014, output in April 2015 in the construction industry increased by 1.5%, resulting in positive growth for the 23rd consecutive month year-on-year. Despite this growth within the construction industry, little work has been carried out to determine the current level of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) /e-Business penetration within the sector.