THE north's construction sector has "some ground to make up" on the industry in Britain, despite improving prospects, a leading economist has said.
Dr Esmond Birnie from PwC was speaking as a new report forecast five years of growth in the industry in the north.
It comes as more companies seek work outside Northern Ireland to aid growth, including Cookstown-headquartered McAleer & Rushe which yesterday announced it had won a £26m hotel contract at Stansted Airport.
According to the latest Industry Insights Report by the Construction Skills Network (CSN), the sector should grow 3 per cent annually between 2016 and 2020.
That puts the industry ahead of the anticipated UK rate of 2.5 per cent yearly growth.
Head of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) in the north Barry Neilson said the report shows "we really seem to be over the worst and we will start to see real growth in our local construction industry over the next five years".
"Developments in the commercial sector will drive growth, and the promised delivery of further investment by government in capital expenditure projects will be vital to ensure that future growth is sustained," he said.
However Dr Birnie said although the figures were welcome, they were from a very low base. By 2013, output was 57 per cent below its 2007 peak.
"This does need to be put in perspective- the forecast is that growth will exceed the UK average by only a small amount, and also the decline in construction activity during the previous recession was very considerable," said Dr Birnie.
"There is therefore a lot of ground to be made up and, according to these projections, there will still be some ground to make up even by the end of this decade."
Meanwhile, McAleer & Rushe has secured a contract with Urban&Civic to build what will Europe’s largest Hampton by Hilton at Stansted.
The scheme is eight stories tall and is set to open next summer.
