One industry which has taken a serious hit in the last 2 years of recession in the UK is the construction industry. Clearly larger commercial projects had been put on hold, with the only sector experiencing even usual levels of business being the renovations sector, this is probably due to large organisations deciding to stay put and refurbish existing buildings as opposed to moving to new premises, although still a major outlay this would represent an enormous saving. In addition the reluctance of lenders to provide mortgages to first time buyers has seen the house 
building industry hit incredibly hard, although many housing development sites are now reopening and properties being completed, the market for first time buyers is still incredibly slow and many developers are struggling to sell the houses for their anticipated value.
Overall this has meant that many sub-contractors have had a very difficult time of late, a very high number of them have gone into liquidation during 2009 and 2010 with many more tendering for work at around break even levels just to keep cash-flow moving and employees in work. Some of the hardest hit have been dry lining, plastering and bricklaying.
On a slightly more positive note, this has meant that to remain in the game, builders of all sizes have has to sharpen up on business, sales and customer service levels as only those who are offering high levels of service at competitive rates will remain in work, as although the recession stopped some months ago, recovery has not been as fast as anticipated and th industry is still very slow. Those who can make it through these lean times will come out the other end a leaner more efficient business, ready to succeed and grow again once spending recovers.
One way many construction companies are streamlining their business is to invest in software which can help them to manage internal processes and manage job costs more accurately. There are products available from many vendors such as Coins and SAP for the larger companies, but there are solutions available from Sage, Pegasus and Redsky for the small to mid-sized sub-contractor. These packages typically integrate an accounts and payroll system into what is otherwise a product for contractors and quantity surveyors.
A popular choice with many UK companies is Sage 50 Construction, this is the newer name for what has been called Construct Advanced for many years, although since being bought by Sage UK around 8 years ago it has been re-branded along with many of their other popular Sage 50 Accounting products, they have planted themselves firmly in the industry with construction software to suit even larger companies now with the more recent acquisition of a Microsoft partner and their offering evision.
