SMALL and medium-sized Scottish construction companies are enjoying their fastest growth in workloads and inquiry levels since late 2007, a survey has shown, but skills shortages could put this rapid expansion in jeopardy.

The survey of second-quarter activity, published by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), shows a weighted net balance of 14 per cent of construction companies north of the Border enjoyed expansion based on a composite measure of current and expected workloads and inquiries.

This balance is arrived at by subtracting the percentage reporting a fall from that posting a rise, after weighting responses according to the size of company. This reading for the April to June period was up by 10 percentage points on the balance for the preceding three months, and the strongest since the fourth quarter of 2007.

It was, however, adrift of a corresponding balance of 21 per cent for the UK as a whole in the second quarter.

Gordon Nelson, director of FMB Scotland, said: “Following the longest and deepest economic downturn in living memory, it’s very encouraging to learn that construction workloads are increasing and that small firms in Scotland have real confidence that this will continue. The results for the second quarter of this year mark the highest for eight years and it feels as though our industry is finally turning a corner.”

However, highlighting skills shortages and a belief that even more should be done to boost the number of construction apprenticeships, he added: “While such positive news is both welcome and long overdue, small construction firms are worried that the skills shortage impacting on the construction industry will mean they cannot cope with the increased workloads they are expecting.”